Modern by Tradition: American Indian Painting in the Studio Style [SOLD]

Modern by Tradition—American Indian Painting in The Studio Style

by Bruce Bernstein and W. Jackson Rushing

First edition hardcover with jacket

From the Book:

Students at The Studio ranged in age from eleven to twenty-one and were drawn largely from the southwestern and plains tribal areas.  Unexposed to formal art education, these students nonetheless came from a Native artistic tradition that expressed itself through a modern language of symbolism and abstraction to render ageless themes and motifs.  Dunn, who directed The Studio until 1937, when it was taken over by her former student Geronima Cruz Montoya, acted as a conduit between her young students and their ancient visual traditions and contemporary Indian lives.  The most accomplished artists of the period spent their formative years at The Studio and emerged to critical acclaim.

The modern school of American Indian painting began, informally, with the works of young students of the San Ildefonso Pueblo day school under the tutelage of Esther Hoyt, the teacher from 1900 to 1907.  Some of the early self-taught artists of San Ildefonso were Alfredo Montoya, Crescencio Martinez and Julian Martinez.

Students at The Studio ranged in age from eleven to twenty-one and were drawn largely from the southwestern and plains tribal areas. Unexposed to formal art education, these students nonetheless came from a Native artistic tradition that expressed itself through a modern language of symbolism and abstraction to render ageless themes and motifs. Dunn, who directed The Studio until 1937 when it was taken over by former student Geronima Cruz Montoya, acted as a conduit between her young students and their ancient visual traditions and contemporary Indian lives. The most accomplished artists of the period spent their formative years at The Studio and emerged to critical acclaim.

- Image of Dorothy Dunn source: Wikipedia