Robert Highsmith "Monument Shadows" Original Watercolor, Signed 2002

An original watercolor by Robert Highsmith (AWS, NMWS), the Las Cruces-based painter widely collected across the region for his command of transparent washes and high-desert light. Titled Monument Shadows, the composition captures the iconic sandstone buttes and spires of Monument Valley at the low golden hour — sunlit cliff faces rendered in warm sienna and rose, set against deep ultramarine cast shadows that pull eastward across the valley floor. The horizon glows pale yellow into a clear blue sky, and a loose, gestural foreground of brush and broken ground anchors the scene. Signed and dated lower left "Highsmith 02."

This piece comes with its original Cutter Gallery (Las Cruces) sales receipt dated 3/3/18, documenting a purchase price of $758.19, along with the artist's contact card and the original gallery title tag reading "Monument Shadows."

About the Artist

Robert Highsmith is a Las Cruces, New Mexico-based watercolorist whose career spans decades of sustained engagement with the landscape of the region and the broader natural world. He holds signature membership in two of the most prestigious watercolor organizations in the country: the American Watercolor Society (AWS), founded in 1866 and headquartered in New York, whose annual juried exhibition remains a benchmark for the medium nationally; and the New Mexico Watercolor Society (NMWS), whose membership represents the leading practitioners of the form working in the region today. Signature status in either organization requires demonstrated excellence across multiple juried submissions — holding both simultaneously places Highsmith among a small cohort of painters working at that level.

Highsmith's work is rooted in the transparent watercolor tradition — no gouache corrections, no opaque overpainting — which demands that the painter commit to each wash decisively and build luminosity through layering and reservation of the white paper ground. His landscapes read as structurally bold yet atmospherically nuanced: hard-edged shadow forms coexist with softly graded skies, and the warm ochres and siennas of desert rock are played against the cool blues and purples he uses to model depth in shadow. It is a technique that suits the high-contrast desert light of southern New Mexico and the Colorado Plateau better than almost any other medium.

He maintained his studio at 2920 Suncrest Arc, Las Cruces, and exhibited regularly through Cutter Gallery on El Paseo — one of the Mesilla Valley's most respected venues for fine art during its years of operation. His work appears in private collections throughout New Mexico and the broader region, and his prints and originals retain consistent demand among collectors who follow the New Mexico watercolor tradition. Highsmith's website (rhighsmith.com) and professional correspondence ([email protected]) document his ongoing practice and availability for commission.

Provenance

• Acquired by the consignor from Cutter Gallery, 2640 El Paseo, Las Cruces, NM, on 3/3/2018
• Original sales receipt (Cutter Gallery #25535), artist business card, and gallery title tag accompany the lot

CONDITION

Excellent. Watercolor presents clean and bright with no fading, foxing, or staining apparent through the glazing. Frame and double mat are in excellent order with only the lightest handling wear. Matted Behind Glass. Damage Noted - 1.5" Scratch to Glass Top Right

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Artist: Robert Highsmith (AWS, NMWS), Las Cruces, NM
• Title: Monument Shadows
• Medium: Watercolor on paper
• Signed/Dated: Lower left, "Highsmith 02" (2002)
• Sight Size: 5 1/2" × 10 1/2"
• Framed Size: 14 1/2" x 19 1/2" x 1 1/8"
• Frame: Wood with double mat under glass
• Accompanied By: Original Cutter Gallery receipt (3/3/18), artist card, gallery title tag