Ranch in Mendenales

Bror Julius Olsson (B.J.O.) Nordfeldt

c. 1930s

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A watercolor painting depicts a rural landscape with buildings nestled against rolling hills and mountains under a pale sky. Trees with green foliage dot the scene, and rocky terrain is visible in the foreground. Most famous for his etchings and woodblock prints, B.J.O. Nordfeldt was also an accomplished painter. Born in Sweden, Nordfeldt moved to America as a teenager and was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He traveled around Europe early in his career and became heavily influenced by the European modernist painter Paul Cézanne and his analytical examination of mass and structure in his landscapes. Drawn to the southwest region of the United States and its dramatic topography, Nordfeldt moved to Santa Fe in 1919, where he lived until 1940. It was during his period in Santa Fe that he created this landscape scene of a ranch