Barbara Latham facts for kids

Barbara Latham (born June 6, 1896 – died May 28, 1989) was an American artist. She was known for her paintings, prints, and especially for illustrating children's books.

Early Life and Art Training

Barbara Latham was born in Walpole, Massachusetts, on June 6, 1896. She grew up in Norwich, Connecticut, in a farmhouse. Her parents, Allen and Caroline Walker Latham, loved nature.

Her family kept many bees, and Barbara even had her own small beehive. Her father was very creative. He developed a special type of queen bee. He also invented "honey butter," which was a unique whipped honey, not honey mixed with butter.

During summers, her family would travel to Cape Cod, near Provincetown. They lived simply in a house her father built. There was no phone, electricity, or cars.

Barbara showed artistic talent from a young age. She won her first art scholarship at just eight years old. This scholarship was from the Norwich Free Academy, where her father taught.

She studied art at the Norwich Free Academy. Later, she went to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, graduating in 1919. She also attended the Art Students League of New York summer school in Woodstock, New York. There, she learned from a famous artist named Andrew Dasburg.

Life and Art in Taos, New Mexico

In 1925, Barbara Latham moved to Taos, New Mexico. She went there to create drawings for a greeting card company. These drawings showed scenes of life in the American Southwest.

In Taos, she met another artist, Howard Cook. They got married in May 1927. From 1928 to 1935, Barbara and Howard traveled a lot. They visited Europe, Mexico, and the southern parts of the United States.

In 1938, the couple decided to settle near Taos. They made their home on the Talpa ridge. This place became their main home until 1976.

Barbara Latham created many paintings and prints of the Taos area. Her art showed the beautiful landscapes and scenes of town life. She also captured the daily lives of the Taos Pueblo Native Americans.

Besides her paintings, she illustrated several children's books. Two well-known ones are Pedro, Nina and Perritto (published in 1939) and Maggie. Maggie was even recognized as one of the best books by the American Institute of Graphic Arts.

Later Years in New Mexico

In 1967, Barbara's husband, Howard Cook, became the first artist to join the Artist-in-Residence program at the Roswell Museum and Art Center. Because of this, the couple started spending their winters in Roswell, New Mexico. They eventually moved there permanently in 1973.

As Howard Cook's health declined, they moved to Santa Fe in 1976. Howard passed away in 1980. Barbara Latham died on May 28, 1989.

Where to See Her Art

Barbara Latham's artwork is displayed in many important art collections. Some of these include:

• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Dallas Museum of Fine Arts
• Library of Congress
• New Mexico Museum of Art
• Philadelphia Museum of Art