Rod Goebel (1946-1993)
Remembered as a painter who was always pushing himself to learn and who made bold, fresh and exciting paintings, Goebel was one of the founding members of the “Taos Six”. He is known as a post-impressionist, Southwestern landscape painter. Born in Austin, Texas, he studied at the University of New Mexico and The Colorado Institute of Art. He eventually settled in Taos and depicted scenes and landscapes in an evocative, colorful and painterly way. Over the course of his life, he explored landscapes, nudes, and non-objective painting. Known as a master teacher, he was a member of the National Academy of Western Art and presented in the Prix de West until he resigned as a result of being outed for his sexual orientation. He faced discrimination throughout his life, including internal strife with the Taos Six and was abandoned by some of his galleries. Goebel died from AIDS in 1993.
In his painting High Mesas, Goebel focuses on juxtapositions of scale and color found in nature. Towering clouds of muted colors are in contrast to the intensely lit flat-topped mesas in the foreground. Typical of his earlier work which tended to focus on realism, this painting highlights his draftsmanship in the exquisitely drawn scrub oaks and dynamic storm in the distance.