Original Painting of Pueblo Harvest Dancers [SOLD]

The nephew of famed San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez, Gilbert Atencio (Wah Peen) was born in 1930. He was one of the youngest San Ildefonso painters. A student at the Santa Fe Indian School, Atencio had already had a museum show by age twenty and had garnered many awards for his work before that.

This painting of three participants in a San Ildefonso Harvest Dance was painted by Atencio when he was 18 years of age, probably still in school at the time.  It is dated 1948.  The preciseness for which he was to become famous later in his art career is already evident in this early painting.  The faces of the three are beautifully detailed. 

Atencio used soft pastel colors in his young career, later becoming known for using brighter colors.  The three figures are presented in full dress as they would appear in real life.  Atencio was very careful to be accurate in his paintings, a trait later demonstrated in his chosen life profession of medical illustrator at Los Alamos National Labs, the neighbor to San Ildefonso Pueblo reservation land.

Early works by artists become very collectible as evidence of style, technique, and change.  When an artist shows such developed talent at age 18, as did Gilbert, it is difficult to speculate that he would improve immensely or that he would change his style.  That is what we see in Gilbert Atencio—that is, he did improve as he matured but his improvement was in finer detail as he pursued his career as a medical illustrator.  His style stayed true to the pueblo style known as that of The Studio of the Santa Fe Indian School.

This is a strikingly exquisite early Original Painting of Pueblo Harvest Dancers by Atencio.  It is properly framed with archival materials and UV conservation glass.

Condition: appears to be in original condition

Provenance: from a resident of New Mexico in the process of relocating her residence

Recommended Reading: Wyckoff, Lydia L., ed. Visions and Voices: Native American Painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art.  Tulsa, OK: Philbrook Museum of Art, 1996.