Watercolor of Cochiti Pueblo Flute Dancer [SOLD]

Manuel Bob Chavez (1915-2003) Ow-u-Te-Wa - Echo of a Song, who was born in 1915, painted in the traditional manner, then turned to a style all his own.  This painting of a Cochiti “Flute Dancer” is of the traditional style and was painted when the artist was 25 years old.  Generally, background materials were not included by Santa Fe Indian School students but Chavez included a pueblo building and corn plants in the field as background although they are a minor aspect of the painting.

Chavez and his wife single handedly excavated the basement at St. Catherine’s Indian School in Santa Fe so he could have a studio in which to establish an art department for the students.  This was an important project for him as the school did not teach art.  He became a teacher at St. Catherine’s, his alma mater, for the next four decades.

Paintings of this style by Chavez are relatively rare as he changed his style of painting early in his career.  He began painting on black paper and using brilliant colors such as blues, greens, reds and yellows.  He never went back to the earlier style of painting.

Condition: the painting shows some acid-burn from the previous framing materials but has been re-framed with proper archival materials to prevent further deterioration. 

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