Original Painting “Untitled—Fox and Deer” [SOLD]

Very little information is published on Juan Jose Martinez of Picuris Pueblo. The University of New Mexico University Libraries lists an interview with him but the information is listed as a “restricted file.” What is indicated is that he attended Ramon School in 1899 and then the Santa Fe Indian School. He worked for the Santa Fe railroad, was a farmer and fisherman.

This watercolor painting could have been completed while he was in attendance at the Indian School based on a penciled price of $1.75 on verso of the paper. He is not, however, listed in Dorothy Dunn’s book or Clara Lee Tanner’s book on Native American painting, but was referenced in Snodgrass that was published in 1968. It can only be assumed that he was born in the 1885 period, attended Santa Fe Indian School probably as a teenager, and then perhaps did not paint after that.

If we learn anything more on the artist, we will update this listing at that time. In the meantime, we must assume that this is a relatively rare work by an early 20^th century pueblo artist.