Peter Hurd

Known for his landscapes and portraits depicting life in New Mexico, Peter Hurd was born on February 22, 1904, in Roswell, New Mexico. He enrolled in West Point, but he only stayed two years and instead went to Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania to study art under N.C. Wyeth. He also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Hurd married Wyeth’s eldest daughter, Henriette, in 1929. The couple moved to New Mexico where Hurd was inspired to create his celebrated egg temperas, watercolors, sketches, and lithographs of life in New Mexico. During the 1940’s, Hurd became an illustrative war correspondent for LIFE Magazine, and many of the works he created during this time now hang in the Pentagon. After the war, Hurd traveled extensively. He was asked to paint the official portrait of President Lyndon Johnson, but the portrait was famously rejected by the President. Hurd continued his painting career until his death on July 9, 1984. His work is in the collections of many institutions including the Brandywine Museum of Art, the Albuquerque Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Available Works