Known for his focus on the lifestyle of Taos residents, Berninghaus painted portraits done at close range as in Indian in Red Blanket [Lot #72], as well as panoramic landscapes in which figures are dwarfed by the grandeur of land and sky, as in Indians on Horseback (Lot #70).

Berninghaus was among the founders of the Taos Society of Artists. Among his numerous awards are the 1924 Ranger Fund Prize and the 1926 Second Altman Prize from the National Academy of Design. He also belonged to the National Society of Mural Painters and the Salmagundi Club. His works are found in countless museum collections. His art is the subject of a 1985 monograph by Gordon E. Sanders, Oscar E. Berninghaus, Master Painter of American Indians and the Frontier West.