Margarete Bagshaw

Margarete Bagshaw (November 11, 1964 – March 19, 2015) was an American painter and potter. She was the daughter of artist Helen Hardin and grand daughter of artist Pablita Velarde. Together, they formed one of the only three generational female painting dynasties known. Their work is now shown together exclusively and permanently at Golden Dawn Gallery in Santa Fe.^[1][2]

Bagshaw grew up in New Mexico and lived most of her life between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. While at the side of both her mother and grandmother for most of her life, Bagshaw did not start to create her own artwork until 1990.

In 2006, after settling her grandmother's estate, she moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Bagshaw lived in the Virgin Islands for almost 3 years (2006–2009). While in the Virgin Islands, she was a founding partner and co-builder of ISW Studios ^[3] — a world-class recording and multi-media studio in St. Thomas, USVI. Bagshaw was responsible for all design elements of the studio project during construction, and was in charge of all administrative functions of all of the ISW divisions. Through 2006, 2007 and 2008, Bagshaw continued to paint two-dimensional works that were shipped back to her gallery in New Mexico.

In 2009, Bagshaw decided to return to clay work – something she had not done since her school days – almost 25 years earlier. These clay pieces are flat tablets as well as three-dimensional works of clay – abstract, non-symmetrical bowls and vessels. These clay pieces were all incised with the intricate designs that Bagshaw is recognized for, and then after firing, painted with oil paint.

Throughout her 20 year career she has been known for her use of color, composition and texture – with all of the mediums she has worked in. Bagshaw has been featured in many publications including but not limited to: Southwest Art magazine,^[4] Native Peoples magazine,^[5][6] the New Mexico Magazine and recently both the Albuquerque Journal^[7] and ABQ Arts.^[8] She was one of the featured artists in the 2003 book — NDN Art,^[9] as well as the 1998 book — Pueblo Artists Portraits, by Toba Tucker.^[10]

Bagshaw has taken part in over a dozen major museum exhibitions, including: the Eiteljorge Museum Of American and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Hamden Museum in Virginia, and numerous invitational shows with the Museum of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1996, she gave a personal slide presentation at the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. As the subject of a documentary film project, Bagshaw spoke at the dedication ceremony for the donation of "The White Collection" (featuring a number of Bagshaw's works), at the Lakeview Museum in Illinois in September 2008. In March 2010, Bagshaw presented a "One Woman Show" at the Smoki Museum^[11] in Prescott, Arizona, that will run until the end of May, 2010. She also gave a lecture during the opening of this Museum Show.^[12]

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