Painting of a Jicarilla Apache entitled “The Warrior” [SOLD]

Frank Vigil was a Jicarilla Apache from the reservation in Dulce, New Mexico.  His art has been exhibited at a number of venues, some of which are Arizona State Museum, Heard Museum, Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial, M.H. De Young Memorial Museum, New Mexico State Fair, Philbrook Art Center, and the United States Department of State.  He received awards from the De Young and Philbrook.

His art is represented in collections in the U. S. Department of the Interior, Denver Art Museum, Museum of Northern Arizona, Southwest Museum and the Southeast Museum of the North American Indian.  He is published in Southwest Indian Painting: a Changing Art by Clara Lee Tanner.

This painting of an Apache Warrior on his Paint horse well illustrates the regal appearance of the warrior with his back straight and head high and looking forward.  He is beautifully dressed in buckskin leggings with fringe, over which is a red loin cloth held in place with a belt on which hangs his knife.  The warrior has body and face paints and he wears a breast plate over his chest, a feather in his hair, and a bow and arrows slung in a case over his shoulder.  In his hands he holds a spear.  He is well equipped with weaponry.

The horse is beautifully rendered and illustrates how familiar Apache artists are with horses and how to best represent them in paintings.  The horse was such an important part of Apache life and the pride of every warrior. 

The painting is signed Vigil and dated 58 in lower right.  It has just been framed using proper materials and a dark brown wood frame with a silver-toned fillet. The following is written in pencil by the artist on verso “The Warrior” Frank P. Vigil, Jicarilla Apache tribe, Dulce, New Mexico. 

Recommended Reading: Southwest Indian Painting: a Changing Art by Clara Lee Tanner. This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery.

Condition: appears to be in original condition

Provenance:  from the collection of a family from Ohio