Original Monotype “Navajo Rugweaver” [R]

This image was completed by Tony Abeyta in 1989 as part of a series of monotype images in which he laid down on the plate a small image of the Indian scene and then added paint over and around the image.   To execute the monotype, it is my understanding that the base material quite often is a large sheet of Plexiglas.  Abeyta would then lay the photograph or printed image on the Plexiglas, add the painted designs and then lay a piece of handmade paper over the Plexiglas and run a roller over the paper.  The image on the Plexiglas would then be transferred to the paper.  Only one image can be pulled, so each monotype is a one-of-a-kind unique image.  There will never be another like it.  As a result, each is considered an original work of art as unique as a watercolor or oil painting.

Condition: original condition

Provenance: from the personal collection of a Chicago resident who knew Abeyta when he lived in Chicago.

Recommended Reading:  100 Artists of the Southwest by Douglas Bullis