Original Painting of Two Galloping Horses [SOLD]

This excellent rendition of a pair of horses galloping toward some unknown destination documents well just how talented Romando Vigil (1902-1978) Tse Ye Mu - Falling Cloud was as an artist.  He was painting in the early 1900s at San Ildefonso and is considered one of the early self-taught artist from there.  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.

Tse Ye Mu moved to California in the 1950s and was employed by Walt Disney Studios.  He moved back to the pueblo later in life and resumed painting.  It is likely that this is one of the fine works of art produced after his return from California.  It appears to be casein on paper. 

The painting was executed in the traditional Santa Fe Indian School style of the 1930s, yet, it has a three-dimensional appearance.  The symbols in the upper part of the painting are rain clouds and the ground plane is a simple stepped column style.

Romando Vigil was the father of famous San Ildefonso potter Carmelita Dunlap.  His wife was Juanita Vigil, a sister of Maria Martinez.

Condition: excellent condition and has just been framed with archival materials.

Recommended Reading:  American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas by Dorothy Dunn.  This out of print book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery.

Provenance: from the collection of a Santa Fe family