Ufer’s training in Munich had prepared him to work as a portraitist, which he did briefly in Chicago before settling in Taos. His late selfportraits are virtually the only examples of his skill at portraiture that are known today.
This painting was commissioned by Samuel Lustgarten (1888-1971), according to his son Alfred Lustgarten. A Chicago businessman and avid art collector, Samuel Lustgarten owned many of Ufer’s Taos scenes. The artist was a frequent visitor to the Lustgarten family’s home in Chicago and often dined with the family (Alfred Lustgarten, telephone conversation with Ilene Susan Fort, July 31, 1986).
