“Three Buffalo Dancers” by Neil David, Sr.

This is a classic work by Neil David Sr. (born 1944), a highly respected Hopi-Tewa artist from Polacca, Arizona (First Mesa). Based on the composition and details, this piece is a striking representation of Hopi Buffalo Dancers.

The figures depicted are Buffalo (Mosairu) Dancers. In Hopi culture, the Buffalo Dance is a winter social dance (often held in January) rather than a sacred Katsina ceremony. It is a prayer for snow, moisture, and a successful hunting season. It also honors the spirit of the buffalo for the life-sustaining resources it provided (meat, hide, and bone).

There are three male dancers in a rhythmic, high-stepping stance. They wear traditional buffalo headdresses made of hide and horns, and carry bows or feathers in their left hands. Note the intricate detail in the "fan" of eagle feathers on the headdresses and the kilts embroidered with traditional Hopi designs.

The use of large, bold semi-circles in the background (turquoise and brown) is a hallmark of David's style. These represent the "Hopi World" or the sky/clouds, framing the dancers in a way that feels both flat (traditional) and deeply graphic (contemporary).

David is renowned for his ability to capture the "natural" position of the human body. Unlike earlier, more rigid "flatstyle" Native American paintings, his figures have a sense of weight and dynamic movement — you can almost hear the rhythm of the song. This painting is a wonderful example of the bridge between traditional ceremonial life and the 20th-century Native American fine art movement.

He is of Tewa descent (specifically the Hano people who migrated to Hopi lands) and Hopi descent. This dual heritage often informs the complex layers of symbolism in his work. While he is a master painter, he is perhaps even more famous for his Katsina carvings and his depictions of the Koshare (clown) figures, which he often portrays with a sense of humor and modern social commentary. 

Neil David Sr. was a founding member of Artist Hopid, a group formed in the early 1970s that sought to combine traditional Hopi imagery with modern painting techniques.

The painting is signed in the lower right: N. DAVID 69 followed by TEWA-HOPI.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this "Three Buffalo Dancers" by Neil David, Sr. was originally purchased from the Hopi Artist Guild on Second Mesa of the Hopi Reservation.

TAGS: Native American Paintings, Katsina dolls, Hopi Pueblo, Native Drawing, Native Painting, Carving, Hopi-Tewa , Bronze, Neil David, Jr. , Neil Randall David, Sr.