San Ildefonso Pueblo Painting of Skunks and Chickens [SOLD]

Popovi Da displayed special skills in producing beautiful, balanced, geometrical and symbolic designs.  He had the delicate touch of a fine artist, whether in paintings or pottery.  His name is synonymous with artistic genius, a trait he inherited from his famous parents.  Popovi was baptized Antonio José Martinez but officially changed his name to Popovi Da, his Tewa name, in 1948.  He attended San Ildefonso Day School and the Santa Fe Indian School, where he studied under the tutelage of Dorothy Dunn and Geronima Cruz Montoya.

Popovi started painting even before entering elementary school.  Even before attending the Santa Fe Indian School, he painted in the two-dimensional style of the older painters at the pueblo.  Perhaps he watched his dad and others paint.  His favorite subjects were always animals.

Po, as he was called, was drafted into the Army in 1944 and assigned to Los Alamos National Laboratory where he spent the remaining years of his tour.  He then stayed at Los Alamos and worked for the contractor after the war.  This, of course, limited his time for painting.  Around 1948, he and his wife, Anita, opened the Studio of Arts at the pueblo and then he began helping his mom, Maria Martinez, with her pottery.  As a result, there are very few of his paintings available and most of them pre-date World War II.

This painting is an excellent example of the quality of his work.  It was probably painted in a light-hearted moment.  He was not the first to paint the subject of skunks and chickens.  Several of the early San Ildefonso artists painted such.  His dad painted several of the subject.  It was probably painted early in his career as the signature reads Po-Povi. His later signature was Popovi Da. On the back of the framing was a paper with F.A.P. 25,367.

Condition: appears to be in original condition with acid-free mat board, however, it has not been examined out of the frame.

Recommended Reading:  The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez by Richard L. Spivey (1937 - 2011)

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Virginia to whom we sold this in 2004, now in the process of down-sizing its collection.