Participants in a Comanche Dance at San Ildefonso Pueblo [SOLD]

Julián Martinez (1885-1943) Pocano - Coming of the Spirits is most often associated with his wife, Maria Martinez, as the painter of her ceramics from the early 1900s until his death in 1943. He did, however, execute paintings on paper as well. He was one of the very early San Ildefonso self-taught easel artists. His watercolor paintings were a minor activity as compared to his brilliant achievements as the decorator of Maria’s pottery. He was painting watercolors before 1920 and continued as time permitted until his death.

This is one of Julian’s early paintings, probably from 1930.  It once hung in room 1210 of Santa Fe’s La Fonda Hotel.  It is still in the frame in which it was at that time.  Sometime, in the 1960s, the La Fonda underwent renovations and all the original Native paintings from the rooms were sold. 

San Ildefonso Pueblo members dance the Comanche Dance  on January 23rd, which is the pueblo’s feast day.  The peaceful Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona never wore the feathered headdresses popular among tribes believing in the virtue of warfare.  The Navajo, Apache, Ute and Comanche were the ones who raided the pueblos.

This dance celebrates and honors the end of hostilities between the tribes.  The dancers have painted faces and wear feathered head bonnets.  Some carry flags that have meaning in Plains Indian custom: a warrior proved his valor by planting his flag in the ground during battle, tying himself to it, and defending it to the death against all comers.  He earned a feather bonnet after accomplishing this feat. The dancers are protected by a large arched rainbow with a warrior’s shield suspended at its top.

It was exhibited at the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe in 2009-10 in the exhibit Through Their Eyes—Indian Paining in Santa Fe, 1918-1945 and is published in the book by the same title, on page 191.

Condition: good condition

Provenance:

-        Originally hung in room 1210 of La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe

-        Kuster collection, unknown dates

-        Charlotte G. Mittler collection and purchased in 1999 from Dewey Galleries, Santa Fe.

Recommended Reading: Through Their Eyes—Indian Painting in Santa Fe, 1918-1945 by Michelle McGeough, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, 2009