Jozef Bakos
Born New York, 1891
Died New Mexico, 1977

Jozef Bakos was born to Polish immigrants in Buffalo, New York in 1891. He first studied painting at the Art School of the Albright Gallery in Buffalo from 1912-1916. Bakos was awarded the school's highest honor when he received the Joseph Albright Medal. From 1917-1919, Bakos studied privately with John E. Thompson. Thompson moved west to Denver, prompting Bakos to follow him to Colorado. It was during this time that Bakos became the first art instructor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Shortly thereafter, a flu epidemic closed the University, and Bakos moved to Santa Fe to find employment. He met with Walter Mruk, a childhood friend who was working in Santa Fe. In 1921, he formed "Los Cinco Pintores," which is Spanish for "Five Painters," with Mruk, Williard Nash, Fremont Ellis, and Will Shuster. They held their first exhibition in December 1921 at the Museum of Fine Arts.

During the Great Depression, Bakos was forced to leave Santa Fe, and accept a teaching job at the University of Denver. He taught classes there from 1930-1933. He and his wife, Teresa, soon returned to New Mexico, working odd jobs so that he could carry on painting. Bakos was one of the artists of the Federal Art Project of the Great Depression. In 1940, he began teaching art in the Santa Fe high school. Bakos continued to paint in Santa Fe until his death in 1977.

Education: Art School of the Albright Art Gallery (later named Albright-Knox) 1912-1916, where he won the Joseph Albright Medal; studied privately under John E. Thompson 1917-1919.

Exhibitions: (Partial list) Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe 1921, 1924, 1928, 1937, 1988; Los Angeles Museum, Los Angeles 1923, 1926; Brooklyn Museum, New York 1931;Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. 1928, 1930, 1935, 1939; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York 1932; Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia 1941; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1987; Museum of Art of the American West, Houston 1988.
Collections: (partial list) Brooklyn Museum, New York; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Denver Art Museum, Denver; Louvre Museum, Paris; Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe; University of Colorado, Boulder; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

References:
Bright, Robert, "About the Arts: Jozef Bakos," New Mexican, October 1, 1961.
Coke, Van Deren, Taos and Santa Fe: The Artist's Environment, 1882-1942. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1963.
Eldridge, Schimmel, Truettner, Art in New Mexico, 1900-1945 Paths to Taos and Santa Fe. Abbeville Press, New York, 1986.
Jones, Byron B., "One of the 'Five Little Nuts'," Southwest Art, June 1976.

Biography courtesy of David Cook Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/davidcook