Julian Robles, 1933-2023

By Rebekah Powers | November 2024

The life of Julian Robles is a story that may best be told by his paintings. One painting in particular encompasses his beliefs, his sensitivities and his place in Taos history: “Santa Clara Olla & Sunflowers”. Painted in 1986, the sunflowers the black Santa Clara pot, with the crucifix speaks at a larger cultural narrative. His paintings have been described as “faithful”: to the subject, to his own beliefs and to his intensity.

“Santa Clara Olla & Sunflowers”, Oil on canvas, 1986 – 34″ x 30″

A devout Catholic whose spiritual beliefs often informed his work, Robles was “enthralled” by the Native American ceremonies and rituals at Taos Pueblo. His years in Taos resulted in a legacy of work untouched by modern times, immersed in the authenticity and historic relevance of this place. His recent passing created a ripple across the art world, especially in Taos where his estate revealed a plethora of sketches from Pueblo events drawn and a vast collection of native artifacts. He will be long remembered as a founding member of the Taos Six, which included Rob Goebel, Ray Vinella, Walt Gonske, Ron Barsano and Robert Daughters.

Robles lived a fascinating life that prepared him for a unique destiny as a premier artist in New Mexico. Born in the Bronx in New York City, Robles also spent formative years on the Cuban sugar plantation owned by his family where this urban kid learned to appreciate nature and adapt to a different culture and language. This exposure foreshadowed his fascination for the American West and prepared him for life in Taos, New Mexico.

“Untitled”, Oil on canvas, 1971 – 16″ x 24″

In the Air Force, he was trained as a technical illustrator stationed in Wyoming and Texas, which inevitably led him to forays in New Mexico where his enchantment began. After studying at the Art Students League and New York Academy of Design in New York, Robles finally made a decision that echoes many creative spirits who have come before and since, to pack up their lives and move to Taos, where the light and the landscape and the people make an ordinary day into something majestic. He found an adobe hacienda built in 1824, and Taos became home to Julian Robles where he said that the colors, the skies, the peoples and the mountains created for the painter “high drama.”

“Native Dancer”, Lithograph 5/80, 2003 – 25″ x 19″

It was an unlikely path that would bring a little boy from the Bronx to Taos, New Mexico where his work helps to record, refine and to define the history of the West. Visit Chimayo Trading soon, where the paintings of Julian Robles continue to speak for him, to tell the story of his life, his greatest masterpiece.

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