Mythological Avanyu and a Pair of Skunks [SOLD]

Several of the early San Ildefonso Pueblo artists often painted wildlife and barnyard animals. Skunks seem to have been a favorite. It is a matter of conjecture as to whether Julian Martinez or Awa Tsireh is responsible for the advent of the skunk in Pueblo painting, but Julian used this highly decorative animal most delightfully in many compositions, thereby establishing it as a fully respectable subject in Pueblo art. The mythological Avanyu (water serpent) is another image favored by San Ildefonso and Santa Clara artists.  Julian used it many times on black pottery.

Around 1918, students at the Santa Fe Indian School were invited by Elizabeth DeHuff, wife of the school’s newly-appointed superintendent, to paint at her home.  This was a kindness by her but violated Indian School policy.  Government policy was not to encourage the Indians to document or pursue their paganism.  Prior to that, San Ildefonso Pueblo students had been encouraged to paint as early as 1900 by Esther Hoyt, a U. S. Indian Service teacher.  These encouragements produced a generation of artists from San Ildefonso and other pueblos whose work today is in major collections.  A collection of 199 paintings by students of the Indian School gifted by Elizabeth DeHuff resides in the Yale University Library. These early artists who attended the San Ildefonso Day School, who were taught by Esther Hoyt, represent the earliest easel artists among all the pueblos.

Julian has beautifully integrated the Avanyu and a pair of skunks in this highly-geometric and architectural colorful painting. The Avanyu has a lightning bolt coming from its mouth which is frightening the smaller younger skunk.  The adult skunk seems to be ignoring the serpent. The ground plane is a series of geometric design elements and what may represent the sun.  Paintings of this style by Julian were early works, probably from the 1920s to 1930s.

Condition: appears to be in original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a family from upstate New York

Recommended Reading:  Modern by Tradition: American Indian Painting in the Studio Style by Bruce Bernstein, et al