The lobby, hallways and meeting rooms are filled with paintings, carvings, photos and other works of art that create a unique Santa Fe ambiance. There are thousands of works by the hotel’s staff artist, Ernest J. Martinez who started working at La Fonda in 1954.
     Over the past 50 years he has painted all of the 400-plus windows in La Plazuela restaurant (right), plus dozens more windows and French doors as well as murals, furniture and tile murals.

     Martinez's whimsical birds, snakes and lizards serve as directional signs and his paintings grace everything from headboards to blanket boxes and light switches in our guest rooms. His more formal works of art range from Mimbres designs and replicas of Navajo rugs in the Ballroom to landscapes seen throughout the hotel.

History of La Fonda

For a downloadable brochure about the Art of La Fonda click here.

If you would like a copy mailed to you please click here to e-mail us.

In the 1920s the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway commissioned Ira Diamond “Gerald” Cassidy to paint ten outstanding figures to immortalize the great Southwest. Cassidy’s original paintings* (below left), are exhibited throughout La Fonda’s public areas, and are a timeless legacy that is much admired and appreciated.
     Paintings from the 1930’s by Paul Lantz depicting life in a Mexican village (above) are found throughout the hotel .* There are two murals inside the Ballroom, as well as a painting “El Baile” dancers (below) along the stairway to the Ballroom. There is also a Mexican village scene at entrance to the Ballroom and paintings of “El Querido” and “La Querida” on either side of the entrance to La Plazuela restaurant.

Find out more in our “Art of La Fonda” brochure available at the Front Desk.

*Reproductions of the Cassidy and Lantz works are available in our Newsstand/Gift Shop or from our online store.