Oscar E. Berninghaus

Oscar Berninghaus was a well-known painter who specialized in Western subjects. He began his career in St. Louis, and split his time between St. Louis and Taos, New Mexico where he was a member of the Taos Society of Artists. 

Berninghaus was born in St. Louis on October 2, 1974. In childhood, Oscar developed an interest in art, and began to pursue drawing and watercolors. In 1890, Berninghaus was hired by the lithography company Compton and Sons, where he worked for three years. In 1893, he was an apprentice at Woodward and Tiernan, a printing company in St. Louis. While at Woodward and Tiernan, he learned lithography and the fundamentals of drawing. During this period, Berninghaus took evening classes at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, Washington University.

In 1899, Berninghaus was commissioned by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad to make watercolors of the scenery along the route. While in New Mexico, he made a side trip to Taos, and stayed there for a week. After this first trip, Berninghaus made yearly trips to Taos in the summers, and the people and scenery of the area became a major subject in his work. In 1912, Berninghaus was a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, along with the other founding members Joseph Sharp, Bert Phillips, Ernest Blumenschein, Irving Couse and Herbert Dunton.  

Although  Berninghaus permanently moved to Taos in 1925, he continued his artistic practice in Missouri where he had his first solo exhibition in 1900 at the Frank Healy gallery in 1900.   

In 1920, Berninghaus was commissioned  to create two murals documenting the state’s history for the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. Titled Indian Attack on the Village of St. Louis, 1780 and Surrender of the Miamis to Gen. Henry Dodge, 1814, they were unveiled in the Capitol on January 7, 1921. In 1923, Berninghaus was commissioned to paint three more murals. They are titled Herculaneum- Where Shot Was Made for the War of 1812, Early Lead Mining, and Old Saint Genevieve-Settled 1735. These murals were accepted by the Capitol Decoration Commission on June 8, 1924. 

While working on murals and paintings, Berninghaus continued to create illustrations. In 1914, he was commissioned by Anheuser-Busch to paint ten historical scenes for posters advertising the company. These images were later compiled in a book published by the brewery, Epoch Marking Events of American History. In 1920, Berninghaus was commissioned by the De Lore Baryta company to make illustrations for the book The Story of Baryta. The images include scenes of the mining operation and life in Washington County. To complete the commission, Berninghaus spent two months in Potosi, Missouri, sketching and studying the baryta industry to make the images. 

During the 1930s, Berninghaus completed several other murals for the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts.In 1937, he made a mural for the federal courtroom in the post office in Fort Scott, Kansas entitled Border Gateways. He also made a series of murals for the  Phoenix, Arizona post office in 1938: Communication during the Period of Exploration, Early Spanish Discover Pueblo Indians, and Pioneer Communication. Lastly, he made a mural for the Weatherford, Oklahoma post office entitled Terminus of the Railroad, 1898-1901, 1939.

Throughout his career, Berninghaus belonged to several artist organizations, including the St. Louis Art League, St. Louis Artists’ Guild, 2x4 Society, Society of Western Artists, National Academy of Design, and the Salmagundi Club. In 1926, Berninghaus was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design.