Original Painting of Indoor Pueblo Scene [SOLD]

Gilbert Atencio (1930-1995) Wah Peen attended the Santa Fe Indian School, graduating in 1947.  By the time he was twenty, he had exhibited at the Santa Fe Museum, the Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial, various Albuquerque venues, and the Philbrook Art Center in Oklahoma.  By the time he reached 19 years of age, he had been awarded six first prizes, six second prizes and five third prizes. Atencio's family included four siblings, one of whom was well-known Santa Clara Pueblo potter Helen Gutierrez.  His parents were Isabel Montoya (1899-1996) and Benjamin Atencio (? -1963). His grandmother and Maria Martinez's mother were sisters. His niece is Geraldine Gutierrez, who is a painter and potter from Santa Clara Pueblo.

Atencio will certainly be recognized as one of the finest pueblo painters of the second half of the 20th century—not only from San Ildefonso Pueblo, but among all pueblo painters.  His attention to detail was unequalled. A professional medical illustrator at Los Alamos National Labs, Atencio carried his precise drawing and painting skills over to his fine art paintings.  His crisply drawn and clearly colored renderings of ceremonial and home life have, since around 1947, been favorites in many shows. Much of Atencio’s inspiration for paintings came from stories his aunts told him about their lives. His style varied from the traditional flat style done early in his career, to more realistic paintings done later in his career.  Atencio passed away in 1995, and remains highly regarded by scholars and collectors.

While his primary focus was on ceremonial scenes, Atencio was excellent at handling a wide variety of subjects.  He must have appreciated the process of pottery making, as he seems to have created many images of pueblo women practicing their traditional craft.  The occasional single walking figure or mother and child—not dancers, just pueblo people walking around—turns up, too, though these seem to be rare.

Even more rare is this exceptional painting of an indoor pueblo scene.  Atencio’s subjects here—two women grinding blue corn, and a man playing a flute—are depicted with the same exceptional detail as the ceremonial dancers he favored.  Atencio’s background as a medical illustrator is apparent in this technically outstanding painting. The women are dressed beautifully in elaborate traditional pueblo dress.  They’re grinding blue corn, with which they will most likely make *piki bread. They’re kneeling on brightly colored blankets, facing a man who is also wearing traditional clothing.  He sits on a folded-up blanket, which rests on top of a log. He’s playing a flute, providing the women with musical accompaniment while they work. On the floor around them are three baskets, two of which are full of what appears to be ground blue corn. The third is full of corn that has yet to be processed.  In the background, a beautifully colored guardian figure curves up and over the women, holding blue corn.. A pueblo pot is perched in the corner, atop a winding wooden stand. A ladle’s handle peeks out over the jar’s rim. A low, wide bowl sits in a niche in the wall.

Atencio’s colors here are beyond strong—they’re exciting.  The cool colors, in particular, are rich and deep, inviting the viewer to take a close look into the artist’s world. These gorgeous blues and greens are augmented wonderfully by warm, bright tones, which define the details of the clothing, baskets, and blankets.  An earthy tone is, appropriately, used for the walls and the lovely pueblo pots in the background. The perspective from which the viewer sees the scene is atypical, too, but was handled with incredible skill. With this striking image, Atencio combined aspects of the early pueblo “flat” style with ideas of his own creation.  The result of this combination is an exceptional image that lovingly references and creatively expands upon the traditional pueblo style.

The painting is signed Gilbert Atencio and dated 62 in lower left.  It is framed within a simple, thin wooden frame.

Condition: this Original Painting of Indoor Pueblo Scene is in excellent condition

Provenance: from a private collection

Recommended Reading: Southwest Indian Painting a changing art by Clare Lee Tanner

*Piki: a bread made from corn meal used in Hopi cuisine.