Singers with Bow and Arrow Dancers [SOLD]

José Encarnacion Peña (1902-1979) Soqween - So Kwa A Weh (Frost on the Mountain) was not a prolific painter until the last decade of his life, a time when he resumed painting after decades of working on his farm.  Having the opportunity to meet and know him the year before he passed away was a cherished time.  Soqween and his wife Pat came to the Albuquerque gallery in 1978, shortly after we opened, with a painting or two to sell. I don’t think I appreciated the primitiveness of his work at that time but have grown to appreciate that style over the years of seeing paintings by him and other early artists from San Ildefonso.  One of the true rewards of this career is having had the opportunity of meeting all the wonderful older potters and painters who are no longer with us.  Seeing a work of art by them brings back fond memories.  Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Pat’s grandson when he brought us some of Encarnacion’s paintings that he inherited when his grandmother passed away.

This painting is signed in lower right but not dated.  His paintings are beautifully primitive in technique. He was among the many early painters at San Ildefonso Pueblo, working as early as the 1920s.  Others were Tonita Peña, Ricahard Martínez, Luís Gonzales, Abel Sánchez, and Romando Vigil.  Like these other painters, he had been taught nothing about painting or use of colors.  He somehow came about his talent for painting from intuitive ability and from watching others.

“Soqween’s painting . . . inspires a deeper response than the more decorative aspects of Pueblo art usually do.  This effect appears to result from his painting technique more than from any other factor, although his projection of emotional quality depends also on expressive drawing and intuitive composition. The paint never is smooth and flat but shows the uneven texture of varied mixtures and pressures through which he has directed his brush.”  - Dunn 1968

This painting shows a line of 10 participants in the Bow and Arrow Dance.  In the foreground are two men, one with a drum, and behind the line of dancers are two singers.  The painting is representational of the style of Soqween.  It is somewhat folk art and fine art combined.  It is thoroughly the work of Soqween.

Condition: appears to be in original condition.

Provenance:

- This painting of Singers with Bow and Arrow Dancers sold at Skinner’s Auction in Boston in 1986 where it was noted as having come from the Byron Butler collection. 

- Now from the estate of a client from New York who was a significant collector of paintings by Native artists.

Reference: American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas by Dorothy Dunn

Original Image of Jose Encarnacio Pena- Portrait - copyright Adobe Gallery.