In 1919, the Broadmoor Art Academy was founded with a vision of creating a new art institution of national stature. The Academy was originally located in a converted mansion on the corner of Cascade and Dale in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The building had previously been the home of the school's founders, Spencer and Julie Penrose - the owners of the Broadmoor Hotel. Art instructors and students alike brought their diverse styles and talents to Colorado, lured by the exquisite landscapes that only the west affords.
The Academy engaged prominent artists as instructors including John F. Carlson, Robert Reid, Birger Sandzén, Ernest Lawson, Boardman Robinson, George Biddle, Randall Davey, Ernest Fiene, and Peppino Mangravite. These artists helped to attract a diverse student body and to garner recognition for the Broadmoor Art Academy in the American Art centers of the East and Midwest. In 1934, the Academy moved in to a new expansive facility with classrooms, studios, a performing arts theater, music room, library, and a number of galleries. From that point forward, the Academy became known as the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Although it appeared toward the end of the heyday of American art colonies, the Broadmoor Academy and its successor institution, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, functioned for more than a generation as an important cultural center in the Rocky Mountain West. It was a nationally recognized art colony on par with those in Santa Fe, Taos, Woodstock and Provincetown. This page illustrates works of art created by many of the artists who were associated with the Broadmoor Academy during their careers. |
Broadmoor Art Academy - Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
Untitled (Golden Cycle Mill, Colorado Springs, Colorado), circa 1940
watercolor,
8 ¼ x 9 ½ inches
Reference: 25816
Gold Mining, Homestake Mine, South Dakota, 1948
watercolor,
8 ¾ x 10 ¼ inches
Reference: 25060
Mine Near Continental Divide, 1933
lithograph,
10 ¼ x 14 ½ inches
Reference: 26342
Apple Tree (Colorado Mountain Landscape), 1959
oil,
24 x 30 inches
Reference: 22617
Untitled (Colorado Mountain Landscape, Autumn), circa 1950
oil,
17 ¾ x 24 ¼ inches
Reference: 25205
Rotation (Dancers in Movement), 2014
mixed media,
12 ¾ x 25 ¼ x ½ inches
Reference: 19375
Adam and Eve and Lilith, 1944
gouache,
20 ½ x 15 ½ inches
Reference: 13393
Colorado Gold Dredge, Breckenridge (15/25), 1932
lithograph,
10 ¼ x 14 ¼ inches
Reference: 26341
The Carved Door, mid 20th century
tempera,
19 ½ x 8 ½ inches
Reference: 26521
Untitled (Fitzhugh Mine, near Leadville, Colorado), 1937
oil,
11 ¼ x 13 ½ inches
Reference: 22605
Untitled (Abstract, Mountains near Colorado Springs), 1962
oil,
16 x 20 inches
Reference: 18092
Verna Jean Versa 1926-2005
Memorial Day, Pikes Peak (Colorado), circa 1945 oil,
19 ½ x 23 ½ inches
Reference: 23209