“Koosa Playing with Fire” by Pablita Velarde

This wonderful casein painting of three Koosa clowns by Pablita Velarde was painted in the early 1960s on request to be displayed in a museum exhibit of her works. The three clowns are playing with fire and appear to be enjoying it. The clown on the left carries a fire stick and seems to be jumping around because of the heat on his legs from the fire below. The expression on his face lets us know that he is enjoying the play. The clown in the center also appears to be affected by the heat of the fire on his legs, but he is taking time to light his companion's cigarette with his fire stick. The third clown is seated and not affected by the heat, perhaps even enjoying it. He's playing the drum in his lap and enjoying his cigarette. The faces of all three clowns have wonderful fun expressions.

This elaborate casein painting was painted for the Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, California, for display in an exhibit of 44 of Pablita's paintings in 1965. It appeared in the museum's exhibit catalog in position #1. The small tag with number 1 is still attached to the lower right corner of the glass. The exhibit opened at the museum on November 10, 1965, and closed on December 5, 1965. Most of the paintings in the exhibit were for sale. A facsimile of the catalog page showing a listing of the 44 paintings is shown below.

Condition: appears to be in original condition but has not been inspected out of the frame

Provenance: this "Koosa Playing with Fire" by Pablita Velarde is from a client of Adobe Gallery

Recommended Reading: PABLITA VELARDE, HELEN HARDIN, MARGARET BAGSHAW: The Three Books

TAGS: Native American Paintings, Santa Clara Pueblo, Tonita Peña, watercolor, Helen Hardin, Navajo Nation, Pablita Velarde, Margarete Bagshaw