Tesuque Pueblo Charcoal Painting of Mother and Child by Patrick Swazo Hinds [SOLD]

Unquestionably the most exceptional Tesuque Pueblo painter, and one of the most outstanding of all the pueblo artists, was Patrick Swazo Hinds. Swazo was born at Tesuque Pueblo in 1929 and given the name José Patricio Swazo. He was adopted by Dr. Norman A. E. Hinds, honorary member of Tesuque Pueblo and Professor of Geology at the University of California for 45 years. Not long after his adoption, Swazo moved to California where he resided until his death. He usually spent his summers at the pueblo. He served in the United States Marine Corps and served in Korea. His education included attendance in high school in Berkeley, California; Hill and Canyon School of Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico; California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland; Mexico City College, Mexico City; and the Art Institute of Chicago.

It is this exposure to a different way of life that is probably responsible for his style of art and that, in turn, is responsible for his wide appeal and his great success as an artist.

Patrick Swazo Hinds (1929-1974) Grey Squirrel - José Patricio Swazo did not paint in the two-dimensional style of The Studio of the Santa Fe Indian School nor did he follow in the abstract style of Fritz Scholder and others of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), rather he had his own style, which was a mixture of realism and modernism.

Swazo was particularly fond of painting women, sometime with a child and sometime without. This is probably the most popular of his paintings—a mother with child.  It appears that the image was first outlined in pencil and then executed in charcoal.

Swazo became a full-time painter after 1968 but most of his paintings are not dated.  He died in 1974 so it can be assumed that most of his art was produced in the 6 years between 1968 and 1974. He also produced lithographs as well as original paintings. This is an original and is signed in lower left.

Condition: this Tesuque Pueblo Charcoal Painting of Mother and Child by Patrick Swazo Hinds is in original excellent condition

Provenance: from the estate of a gentleman from New York who amassed a large collection of Native American art.

Recommended Reading: ART AND INDIAN INDIVIDUALISTS: the Art of Seventeen Contemporary Southwestern Artists and Craftsmen by Guy and Doris Monthan

Relative Links: Patrick Swazo Hinds, Tesuque Pueblo, paintings, Fritz Scholder