San Ildefonso Antelope Dancer signed Awa Tsireh [R]

Alfonso Roybal (1898-1955) Awa Tsireh was painting before 1917 while he was still a teenager. He was the oldest of the early group of pueblo painters. His formal education had not extended beyond primary grades. He was versatile in his styles of painting in that he was equally comfortable with representational or semi-realistic.  Most of his work is in the Santa Fe Indian School two-dimensional style, particularly his early work and many of those were single-figure images.

As he matured, so did his painting style.  He became more proficient in perspective and three-dimensional presentation.  By the 1920s, his compositions became more complex and integrated and his subjects more variable and esoteric.  His paintings became more crowded with people and his presentation of clothing much more detailed.  He added decorative objects such as stylized clouds and base plane and corner decorations.

Based on the above description of his paintings starting around 1920, one would conclude that this painting of a single Antelope Dancer, void of ground plane or background objects, was probably painted before 1920.  Yet, the detail of the costume, the active motion of the figure and the precise drawing of the outline of the figure seem to be beyond the capabilities of a teenage artist.  That illustrates just how talented Awa Tsireh was as a youngster. 

Condition: excellent condition following professional paper conservation and archival framing

Recommended Reading:  Pueblo Indian Painting: Tradition and Modernism in New Mexico, 1900-1930 by J. J. Brody, 1997.

Provenance: from a gentleman in Santa Fe