Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) is known mostly for its fine hieshe jewelry and excellent pottery, but not many painters are known from there. Charles Lovato is probably the finest and most recognized painter from that pueblo. It is unfortunate that he had such a short life, but fortunate that he left behind some wonderful paintings.

Lovato’s paintings were often inspired by poetry and at other times poetry was inspired by his paintings. His work took on a somewhat abstract depiction of representational figures. In this painting, the man’s face and the pottery bowl are very representational but their relation to each other and the manner in which they are displayed are rather abstract.

The painting is signed C. F. Lovato and dated 1976 in lower right. It is matted and framed and in excellent original condition. The artist also signed and titled the painting on verso. A window has been left on verso to permit viewing the hand written text.

Recommended Reading: Indian Painters of the Southwest: The Deep Remembering (Contemporary Indian Artists) (click here to view details of book) by Katherin L. Chase. (Available from Adobe Gallery)