Santa Fe Indian School Studio Painting of Corn, Melons and Rain [SOLD]

In 1932 Dorothy Dunn opened The Studio at the Santa Fe Indian School where painting and drawing were taught.  Dunn was aware of the economic value of Indian art and encouraged her students to use their cultural traditions as a basis for their work. The Studio style was characterized by flat, two-dimensional figures placed on a plain background with small amounts of vegetation.

The artist has created a distinctive piece in the tradition of the Santa Fe Indian School. He has expertly drawn two of the traditional crops of the Pueblos, corn and melons. Nourishing the crops are two rainclouds placed above. All of this is rendered in the traditional style of The Studio.

In 1937, Dunn left The Studio and Geronima Cruz Montoya became the director. She remained there until 1962. This painting by Reyes Lovato, a student at The Studio, is part of a collection of 10 paintings from a 1943 class. It is most likely that Reyes Lovato was a student of Montoya’s.

The artist signed Reyes L. on the bottom right corner. On verso is written Reyes Lovato Age 14. On another one of the paintings in this collection with the same signature,  Reyes Lovato, Santo Domingo Pue., was written on a piece of cardboard on the back of the painting. It is in its original frame.

It is believed that Conrad Hilton purchased this painting for his first hotel in Albuquerque as he did with the other similarly framed ones in this group. In an interview with Ramos Sanchez, one of the students, he indicated that Hilton purchased paintings by students for his first Albuquerque hotel.

Condition: excellent condition with new mat board and backing and original frame and glass.

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

Provenance: from a family in Albuquerque who unfortunately did not know its history or provenance.