Blanche Chloe Grant

Blanche Grant is best known for her murals, and paintings and books on the southwest. Blanche’s art often focused on Native Americans and the diverse population of New Mexico. Blanche spent as much time on writing as she did on painting and completed multiple books on the Taos area, including: Taos Indians, Taos Today, and The Story of Taos.

Blanche Grant was born in 1874 in Leavenworth, Kansas. Her family were well-educated and her father likely taught classes at Fort Leavenworth as it was the army’s main center for schooling soldiers. She later moved to Indianapolis where she finished high school. After her primary education, Blanche went on to complete her secondary studies in art. She studied at Vassar College, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

By 1914, Blanche had established herself as a magazine illustrator and landscape painter.  In 1916 she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska to teach at the University of Nebraska School of Fine Arts. Although she was replacing an esteemed professor, Blanche quickly gained the respect of the community because of her impressive credentials as a professional artist. However, she remained at this post for only a short time. In 1920, after returning from a brief hiatus to France, she settled in the art colony of Taos, New Mexico. It was here where Blanche did her best and most famous work. She wrote numerous books and was active in the Taos community as an editor of the local paper and a member the Taos Art Association. Although Blanche took part in art exhibitions around the country she remained in Taos until her death in 1948.