An Eagle Capturing a Rabbit [SOLD]

Richard Martinez was one of the earlier painters from San Ildefonso Pueblo, painting as early as 1920.  He was well established as an artist before The Studio at the Santa Fe Indian School was begun in 1932 under the tutelage of Dorothy Dunn.  He was one of the original students at Santa Fe Indian School and was commissioned to paint a mural in the student dining room in 1936.  The mural was destroyed a few years ago, when the All Pueblo Council demolished all the old buildings at the Indian School.  None of the murals in any of the buildings were saved.

Martinez was not one of the San Ildefonso Pueblo youngsters who had attended the San Ildefonso Day School during 1900-1907 when the teacher at that time, Esther Hoyt, provided her students with paper and paints and encouraged them to paint subjects with which they were familiar such as ceremonial dancers in the plaza.  Her classes were for students from age 5 to age 12.  Martinez had been born in 1904 so was too young to reap the benefits of the teacher’s generosity to her students even though it was against U. S. Government policy to encourage such acts.

Martinez’s paintings follow the style of The Studio in that there are minimal ground plane and background elements.  The focus of the painting is the idea the artist wished to promote.  In this one, he painted an eagle and rabbit in the center of the painting, filling up most of the space.  On each end of the paper, he added some blooming plants. There are rabbit tracks indicating that the rabbit was running away from the eagle, unsuccessfully.

The painting is signed in lower left.  It has just been framed using archival materials and a brown wood frame.  It is ready to hang and enjoy.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: from the collection of a Santa Fe resident

Recommended Reading:  American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas by Dorothy Dunn (1903-1992)