Original Paintings of Deer under an Avanyu Rainbow [SOLD]

This painting by Roybal featuring deer under an Avanyu Rainbow probably has some meaning related to a pueblo legend, but I am unfamiliar with its meaning.  The pair of Avanyu do not appear to be adversaries but appear to be ceremonially blessing the buck and the situation.  Avanyu are often seen on water jars but seldom in paintings.  Legend has it that the Avanyu bring water down the arroyo to the fields, but apparently there are other legends perhaps more ceremonial in nature.

J. D. Roybal grew up under the artistic influence of his well-known uncle Awa Tsireh at San Ildefonso Pueblo. Early in his education, he studied at St. Catherine's School in Santa Fe and at the Business College of Santa Fe. In the early 1950s he and Julia were married and it was then that he started producing pueblo dance designs on hand-painted Christmas cards. By 1955 he was seriously painting larger works and recognition for his talents came from the Heard Museum in Phoenix and the Philbrook in Oklahoma. He received a consistent string of first prizes in painting for each year since the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts and Crafts Shows began.

The precision with which he painted the figures is exceptional. The rainbow and attached appendages were outlined in black then filled in with color using watercolors, a feat that is not easy considering the manner in which watercolors tend to run. Roybal was an exceptional painter and this is certainly a testament to that statement.

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

Provenance: from a family collection in Pennsylvania

Recommended Reading: Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art by Clara Lee Tanner