San Ildefonso Dance Procession [SOLD]

This painting was most likely executed before Vigil moved to California in the 1950s to work for Walt Disney Studios.  It is of his earlier style and the person, from whose family it came, received it before his retirement in 1955.  The colors are still brilliantly beautiful and there is no evidence of fading or acid damage to the paper on which it is painted.

Romando Vigil was one of the San Ildefonso self-taught artists in the early part of the 20th century. He was a leader within the San Ildefonso Watercolor Movement, a movement that caught fire during 1915 to 1917. It fostered an art form unmatched in the cultural history of the world. These men portrayed tribal culture and local wildlife, attaining a flat decorative character, absent of backgrounds and foregrounds, and free of traditional perspective, with an unerring color sense. Their success in these presentations was due to their understanding the ceremonials they painted because they had participated in them since childhood. They understood the meanings of the symbolism.

The procession includes a flag bearer in front followed by a male and female dancer and backed up by a drummer.  Each of the participants is beautifully rendered in traditional pueblo clothing.  The painting was executed on paper, the slight wavy manner of which is an indication that it is not glued down to a backing material.  This painting would certainly qualify as one of the finest ever executed by Vigil.

Condition: appears to be in original condition

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

Provenance: from the family of Dr. Earl LeGrand Ward, a former obstetrician in Santa Fe between 1920 and 1955 who was the obstetrician of choice at the time according to legend.