Painting of Green Corn Dance by Tonita Peña of San Ildefonso Pueblo [SOLD]

This watercolor ceremonial dance painting is an excellent early piece by San Ildefonso Pueblo artist Tonita Peña.  The signature, Tonita Peña, with no pueblo name or decorative motif, allows us to date the painting to 1920 or 1921.  Peña enhanced the image by painting Cochiti Pueblo Green Corn Dances in a beautiful, expressive script, just below her twelve-figure dance procession.  The appearance of text in the painting is a rare treat.

With this piece, Peña managed to fit a large dance procession into a relatively small space.  While her later works would become more refined and detailed, this early piece excels in different areas.  It feels lively and spirited, as if the artist were enjoying herself immensely while creating the painting.  Despite being composed similarly, each dancer has character, and the significance of their ceremony is captured perfectly.  This is a rare and beautiful image from one of the most important early Pueblo painters.

The painting is signed Tonita Pena in the lower right.  It is framed in a black and red La Fonda Hotel frame.

Tonita Peña (1893-1949) Quah Ah was born in 1893 at the small New Mexico pueblo of San Ildefonso.  The pueblo is located on the Rio Grande, just north of Santa Fe. When Peña was just twelve years old, her mother passed away. Her father, unable to raise her while tending to his responsibilities at the pueblo, took her to live with her aunt and uncle at Cochiti Pueblo.  This was where she would spend the remainder of her life. Peña was the only woman in the group of talented early pueblo artists referred to as The San Ildefonso Self-Taught Group, which included such noted artists as Julian Martinez, Alfonso Roybal, Abel Sanchez, Crescencio Martinez, and Encarnación Peña.  These artists were the earliest known pueblo painters. Today, their works are highly collectible because of both historical significance and quality.

Condition: evidence of age, but no major issues

Provenance: this Painting of Green Corn Dance by Tonita Peña of San Ildefonso Pueblo is from a private New Mexico collection

Recommended Reading: Tonita Peña by Samuel L. Gray

Relative Links: San Ildefonso, Santa Fe, Cochiti Pueblo, Julian Martinez, Alfonso Roybal, Abel Sanchez, Crecencio Martinez, Encarnación Peña, Albuquerque, paintings, Joe Herrera, Tonita Vigil Peña, Quah Ah, San Ildefonso Pueblo Painter