Special Value Offer: Original Painting of a Towa Eagle Katsina [SOLD]

Special Value Offer: the owner has authorized a 20% price reduction from the original price of $1500 to a new price of $1200.

José Rey Toledo, from Jemez Pueblo, was a very well educated person. He had attended the Albuquerque Indian School in the 1930s, then went to the University of New Mexico from which he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and continued on to obtain a Masters of Arts at UNM by 1955. After graduating from UNM, he served as head of the art department at the Santa Fe Indian School. He obtained a Masters of Public Health degree from the University of California Berkley in 1972.

He is listed as having been an art instructor, education health specialist, administrator of Indian health programs, actor, educator, lecturer, muralist and painter. It is this last category—painter—that is of interest to us.

Toledo, as a youngster, observed his cousin, Velino Shije Herrera (Ma Pe Wi) of Zia Pueblo, while he painted. It was this that stimulated his interest in art. He painted very little during the 1950s to the 1970s while pursuing his academic degrees, but began to paint again at some time after that. Because of his many and varied interests, Toledo never produced a large quantity of paintings.  The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture mounted a retrospective of his works in 1994, just months before he passed away.

Toledo followed traditional pueblo subject matter in many of his paintings—single or group dance figures and village scenes. Usually, the dance figures show a great deal of activity. Generally, he did not paint background scenes, just the flat figures against a plain background. Good rich coloring appears in his paintings.

This painting of an Eagle Katsina appears to be an early one by the artist, probably as early as the 1930s when he was observing his cousin Ma Pe Wi paint.  The details of the mask and eagle feather wings are beautifully executed and the costume presentation is accurately portrayed.  The detail of the evergreen ruff is exceptional.  The artist spent considerable time painting this one and paid strict attention to the minutest detail.  It is not the normal procedure for New Mexico Pueblo painters to paint images of Katsinas.  Most often, painting the Eagle Dancer (without mask) would be done rather than of the Eagle Katsina.

The painting is signed with the name Towa, a name used by Toledo early in his career.  It is matted and framed in a wood frame.

Condition: The painting appears to be in original condition but has not been examined out of the frame.

Provenance: from the collection of a gentleman from San Francisco

Recommended Reading: American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas by Dorothy Dunn