painting the NATIVE WORLD Life, Land, and Animals VA L E R I E K. VERZUH A N T O N I O R. C H AVA R R I A

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1 painting the NATIVE WORLD VA L E R I E K. VERZUH NativeWorld.Prosp.final.indd 1 T Life, Land, and Animals A N T O N I O R. C H AVA R R I A 3/5/09 3:44 PM

2 Calvin Tyndall, Omaha Omaha Buffalo Hunt, 1934 Tempera on board Gift of Dorothy Dunn 2 T PAINTING THE NATIVE WORLD

3 visual narratives American Indian Fine Art of the Twentieth Century VALERIE K. VERZUH he twentieth-century Native American Fine Art movement represents a uniquely American genre within the canon of art history. Also referred to as the Modern Indian Art movement or the Easel Painting Tradition, it professionalized the work of Indian artists who produced paintings and drawings strictly as art, with no additional utilitarian or ceremonial function, using media familiar in the non-indian art world but not traditional in Native American culture typically pencil, ink, watercolor, or casein on paper. Prior to its postulation by Anglo American anthropologists, art historians, and artists, the concept of art scarcely existed in Indian culture. A few forms of precontact Native American creative processes might have loosely fit the Anglo definition of that term. These include symbolic pictographs painted on rock surfaces throughout the Southwest, Pueblo wall murals painted in both religious and secular structures, the spiritual and ephemeral sand paintings of the Navajo, and the buffalo hide paintings made by the Plains tribes to record important events. But more commonly, Native Americans traditionally created what Anglos would term crafts beautiful painted pottery, artfully woven baskets, and other cultural artifacts employing a variety of materials, techniques, and styles. In the Indian VISUAL NARRATIVES T 3

4 Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Santa Clara Corn Dance, 1940 Gouache on board Bequest of Dorothy Dunn DOROTHY DUNN COLLECTION, MUSEUM OF INDIAN ARTS & CULTURE / LABORATORY OF ANTHROPOLOGY SANTA FE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS, MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO 4 T PAINTING THE NATIVE WORLD

5 Joe Hilario Herrera, Cochiti Men s Arrow Dance, 1938 Tempera on paper Gift of Dorothy Dunn CEREMONIAL LIFE T 5

6 Harrison Begay, Navajo Untitled, c Gouache on wove paper 6 T PAINTING THE NATIVE WORLD

7 Jose Ray Toledo, Jemez Navajo Woman Rider, c Gouache on illustration board Gift of Florence M. Schroeder ANIMALS T 7

8 PAINTING the NATIVE WORLD Life, Land, and Animals THE MUSEUM OF INDIAN ARTS AND CULTURE, one of four museums in the Museum of New Mexico n the early twentieth century, Native American artists began ex- system, is a premier repository of Native art and material ploring artistic practices outside their utilitarian and ceremonial culture. It tells the stories of the people of the Southwest crafts. Having been recently introduced to Anglo American media pencil, from prehistory through contemporary art. ink, and watercolor Native artists gravitated to the expressive qual- narrative style similar to that found in traditional Indian pottery. From 80 pages, 9 x 8 inches Smyth-sewn casebound, with jacket More than 55 full-color reproductions Text by Valerie K. Verzuh and Antonio R. Chavarria scenes of everyday life to depictions of nature, the works created by these 2009 Museum of New Mexico ity of painting and drawing. The Native American Fine Art movement emerged, characterized by flattened compositions, bold outlines, and a artists became a valuable tool for the preservation of Native American traditions and philosophies. A major force in shaping the Native American Fine Art movement was The Studio at the Santa Fe Indian School, established in 1932 by noted educator Dorothy Dunn. While most Indian schools of the time suppressed indigenous cultural practices supposedly to foster assimilation of the students into white America Dunn s teaching philosophy ran the opposite way. She abandoned European models and, despite resistance from the educational establishment, encouraged her art students to embrace traditional modernism a synthesis of ancient American Indian and contemporaneous forms. With a renewed cultural pride, many of Dunn s students went on to become renowned artists who worked in $ US ($ Canada) ISBN Catalog No. A176 Available September 2009 Printed in China Unless otherwise noted, all images courtesy Museum of Indian Arts & Culture / Laboratory of Anthropology Santa Fe Department of Cultural Affairs, Museum of New Mexico Museum of New Mexico FRONT COVER: Juan B. Medina, Zia, Zia Birds on a Tree, 1935 (left) Geronima Cruz Montoya, San Juan, Pueblo Crafts, 1937, detail (upper right) Narciso Abeyta, Navajo, Boys Riding Among the Yucca, c (lower right) the Studio Style. Featuring more than fifty works from the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, Painting the Native World: Life, Land, and Animals showcases the graceful, innovative work from this exceptional period in Native American art. Valerie K. Verzuh explores the development of the Native American Fine Art movement, while Antonio R. Chavarria provides an overview of the main themes found in these works ceremonial life, daily life, and animals. NativeWorld.Prosp.final.indd 8 Pomegranate Communications, Inc. Box , Petaluma, CA / Pomegranate Europe Ltd. Unit 1, Heathcote Business Centre Hurlbutt Road Warwick, Warwickshire CV34 6TD, UK [+44] sales@pomeurope.co.uk 3/5/09 3:44 PM