Santa Fe Indian School Studio Painting “Taos Lady Getting Water” [SOLD]

When boarding schools for Native American children were established at the turn of the last century, the goal was to “Americanize” the children. Beginning in the 1930s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs changed its policies and lifted the ban on the teaching of traditional arts and crafts. This was during the Great Depression, and the motivation for lifting the ban was an economic one, recognizing that Indian arts and crafts was a way to provide Indian people with a source of revenue.

Dorothy Dunn’s art studio at the Santa Fe Indian School taught painting and drawing to young Native American students. 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 consisted of two-dimensional, flat images on a minimal background.

Taos Lady Gathering Water is a delightful image. It has all of the characteristics of The Studio style with added embellishments that show the creative side of the artist. The rendering of the plants and the subtle coloring of the delicate flowers are pleasing.

This is one of ten paintings in a collection from The Studio of The Santa Fe Indian School. It is the only painting in the group of 10 in which the artist has been published. In the book American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas, Dunn mentions Rita Martinez as a Taos student who was developing a style of her own. She has a painting called “Taos Ladies Getting Water” featured in Modern by Tradition: American Indian Painting in the Studio Style by Bruce Bernstein and Jack Rushing.

On the back of the painting was a piece of cardboard with “Taos Lady getting Water” By Rita Martinez, Taos Pueblo. Also written in pencil is H-205. When the painting was re-matted, we had the cardboard photocopied and it is included 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 and that is what the H-205 represents.  Similar notation appears on other paintings 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.