RARE Cochiti Pueblo Original Painting [SOLD]

It was a real tragedy that Ben Quintana lost his life during World War II at only the age of 21 years. He was an outstanding artist and had a brilliant future in the art field. He was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for gallantry in action.

Clara Lee Tanner, in her book, said of him: "This sensitive artist neglected no small detail in his painting. Colors employed by (him) are soft and pleasing throughout, and his treatment is direct and honest...Cochiti's greatest contributions, in the field of Southwestern Indian art have certainly come through Tonita Peña and her son, J. H. Herrera. Both have done important work in carrying on the traditional pueblo style of presentation....Had Ben Quintana lived, unquestionably, he would have equaled these two."

At the age of 15, Quintana won first prize over 80 contestants, of whom 7 were Indians, for a poster to be used in the Coronado Cuarto Centennial celebration. Later, he won first prize and $1000 in an American Magazine contest in which there were 52,587 entries. As testimony to his interest, he used the prize money to further his art education.

This painting of a Pueblo Buffalo Dancer is testimony to his brilliance in painting. The detail in the costuming and the dancer's buffalo head covering with feathers indicates his attention to detail. His colors are soft and pleasing, as Tanner described, and his brush strokes are flawless. This is an extraordinary piece of art.

The painting is not dated, but we know it is circa 1940. According to Snodgrass, he did not paint after 1942, and he died in 1944. He was born in 1923, so he could not have seriously painted much before 1938 and ended by 1942, so that is a very small window. Also, a pencil note on verso dates it to January 1940.

The painting is in original extraordinary condition. It was framed with acid-free materials.

Provenance: ex. Margretta Stewart Dietrich collection, who moved to Santa Fe after graduating from Bryn Mawr College in 1903 in search of alternatives to European-derived concepts of culture, widely popularizing Native American art in the process. El Zaguán, a property on Canyon road had been purchased in 1928 by her who, along with her sister muralist Dorothy Stewart, restored it to its 19th century status, thus preserving it as it stands today.