Details of a San Ildefonso Dance Participant [SOLD]

In the 1940s, Atencio was one of the youngest of the San Ildefonso painters. He had two years of art in the Santa Fe Indian School. He carried on largely in the traditional manner. Dance figures were his favorite. His drawing was consistently neat, outlines fine, with much delicate modeling and shading.

This painting is typical of the fine work he produced. The detail is superb and the idea of showing three views of a single figure harks to his medical illustration days at Los Alamos National Laboratories.

He worked at Los Alamos National Labs for most of his adult life as a medical and technical illustrator; therefore he was not a prolific painter. This is an outstanding piece of his work.