Hopi Kuwan’Heheya Katsinas and Side Dancer [SOLD]

It is always tragic when a talented artist passes away at a young age, after demonstrating his or her talent to a limited audience.  The questions always remain whether the artist would have continued in an art career and, if so, whether he or she would have continued producing such outstanding paintings. 

Emerson T. Quannie* was born in the Hopi village of Kykotsmovi, on Third Mesa, in 1916. He attended the Albuquerque Indian School in 1932 and, while there, painted a mural at the Albuquerque Kimo Theater. According to his wife, Quannie did very little painting after leaving the Indian School. She knew of only one painting by him after their marriage in 1939. Seymour 1988.

There are paintings by Quannie in the Denman Collection, at the U. S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC, the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX, and the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, AZ. At least one piece was exhibited at the Heard Museum in 1986 in an exhibit entitled “When The Rainbow Touches Down.”

It appears that there have been very few pieces by Quannie on the open market for collectors to purchase. His premature death at age 32 could partially explain this lack of material, as well as the fact that he worked full time as a bookkeeper at a trading post.

It is quite tragic that Quannie did not paint more frequently. He was an outstanding painter, as is evident in this painting. The Katsinas presented are exactly like those seen at a dance in the Third Mesa village of Hotevilla in June 2016 according to a friend who attended that dance.

Written in pencil on verso is “Hopi Early Spring dancer, The Rainbow dancer.”  This notation was most likely made by the artist.  The painting is signed By Em. H. Quannie U.S.I.S.  It is assumed that the initials U.S.I.S. refer to United States Indian School which would indicate that he painted this in 1932 while attending Albuquerque Indian School.

Condition: good condition with only a small water stain on lower left.

Provenance: from the estate of a prominent Santa Fe collector, passed down in the family.

Reference:  Seymour, Tryntje Van Ness. 1988. When The Rainbow Touches Down. Phoenix, AZ; Heard Museum (exhibition catalog)

*a.k.a. Emerson Horace Quannie -  The Biographical directory of Native American Painters by Ptrick D. Lester.