Gerald Peters Gallery is pleased to present a selection of paintings from the estate of the New Mexico icon Harold Joe Waldrum (1934-2003.) Running from April 8 – May 14, 2022, the exhibition features acrylic paintings, mostly from Waldrum’s “Ventanas: The Window Series.”

Born in Savoy, Texas, in 1934, Waldrum settled in New Mexico in the 1970’s. In New Mexico, Waldrum developed his signature style. Inspired by the historic adobe churches and moradas, he captured the essence of their timeless form primarily in acrylic painting. These adobe structures became the foundation of his mature work, including his “Ventanas: The Window Series.”

“I began the window series in 1971. My initial intent was to paint a series of value and color studies for myself. The first form chosen was a rectangle within a rectangle within a rectangle. Other tripartite forms were explored and excused. The concluding form (triptychs/landscapes), in which the three rectangles are squared, taken apart and stacked, appears to be the termination of that initial intent.

The triptychs free me of previous academic considerations associated with making paintings. Composition and other artistic stunts are gone. Nothing remains except the three color-weights, the relationship of each trio and the feeling that something is right.”

-Harold Joe Waldrum, May 1981