Original Popovi Da Painting of Indian on Horseback [SOLD]

Popovi Da had an interesting life away from the pueblo starting at age 22.  First, he was drafted into the army and assigned to Los Alamos, just miles from the pueblo.  He was assigned to the group responsible for building the cyclotron during the Manhattan Project.  He spent six months at Trinity Site at White Sands, then, after detonation of the first atomic bomb, was transferred back to Los Alamos.  When his army tour was over, he returned to Los Alamos as a civilian working for the government contractor in charge of Los Alamos.  By that time, 1945, he was painting occasionally.  Three years later, Po and his wife, Anita, opened the Popovi Da Studio of Indian Arts at San Ildefonso.  Po had applied for a small business loan through the G. I. Bill and was the first Native American ever approved for such a loan. Spivey 2003

Popovi apparently had a short painting career.  If he started painting occasionally in 1945, opened his shop in 1948, was governor of the pueblo, and started helping his mom with her pottery in 1959, there could not have been too much time devoted to painting on paper.

This painting of a young Native man furiously riding his horse is an early work of Popovi.  It is not dated so we don’t know exactly how early it was made but an estimate is in the 1945 era.  It is interesting to see that Popovi used the triangular shape for the D in his signature that later was adopted by his son, Tony Da.  The bird at the head of the rainbow and the plants shown indicate Po’s eventual trend to modernism.  The rider and horse are traditional and the remainder of the painting takes on a modern approach.  Even in his early years, Popovi was artistically talented.

Condition: appears to be in original condition but was delivered to us framed and has not been examined out of the frame.

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Pennsylvania

Recommended Reading:  Modern by Tradition: American Indian Painting in the Studio Style by Bruce Bernstein