Biography Jozef Bakos

Jozef Bakes, born in Buffalo, New York, was a member of “Los Cinco Pintores,” an avant garde painting group in Santa Fe. Trained in Buffalo, Toronto and Denver, Jozef Bakos went on to teach at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Denver and Santa Fe High School. Multi-talented as much by necessity as choice (Los Cinco Pintores were never terribly successful at selling their work) Bakos was also a carpenter and furniture maker whose large commissions (like that which he received from La Fonda Hotel) sustained him financially. The Pintores (Bakos, Ellis, Mruk, Nash and Shuster) dissolved after only five years, but Jozef Bakos stayed in Santa Fe and became famous for his parties and anachronistic hobbies, including home brewing.

Museum Collections

Denver Art Museum

Jonson Gallery of University of New Mexico

Museum of New Mexico

Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

Roswell Museum and Art Center

Stark Museum of Art

The Brooklyn Museum of Art

The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art

The Old Jail Art Center

Whitney Museum of American Art