Gisella Loeffler (c. 1902-1977)

Born in Austria, Gisella Loeffler was noted as a Taos, New Mexico artist of decorative child folklore figures and illustration talents. Her cheerful Austrian and Mexican motifs were popular among her peers including Mabel Dodge Luhan.

Loeffler signed her work simply "Gisella."

From the Austrian Alps, she came with her family to the U. S. in 1908 and settled in St. Louis, Missouri where she, age five, was very disappointed in the drab appearance of her surroundings compared to where she had come from. Instead of flowers in her front yard, she found paved bricks.

She studied art at Washington University, created posters for the St. Louis Post Dispatch and began w...