Original Painting of a Roadrunner [SOLD]

Diane O’Leary (1935 – 2013) Opeche-Nah-Se developed into an amazing artist.  She was an academic wonder—achieving a BA, BS and MS from Texas Christian University, an MS from Harvard and an MA, MFA, & PhD from Stanford.  Somewhere along the way she had attended Bacone College too.  She had planned a career in physics but instead dedicated her life to art and as an activist for the dignity and equality of women.

O’Leary’s father was Irish and her mother a member of the Comanche Tribe.  She moved to Taos, New Mexico, in 1967 at a time when interest in American Indian art was beginning to blossom.  She studied under painters Eric Gibberd and Emil Bisttram at Taos.  She knew Georgia O’Keefe and received occasional criticisms from the artist.

O’Leary is represented in many major museums and private collections, among them Berne, Switzerland; Denver Art Museum, Guggenheim Museum in New York, Heard Museum in Phoenix, Museum of the American Indian, Millicent Rogers in Taos, Philbrook in Tulsa, Peabody at Harvard, Stanford University and the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, as well as other museums, corporate and private collections.  Her paintings are cherished by collectors.

This painting of a Greater Roadrunner, the official New Mexico State Bird since 1949, was executed in soft pastel colors familiar to Diane’s work.  She used many colors but kept them soft and warm.  This image of a Roadrunner clearly identifies itself with the artist.  The painting is signed Opeche in lower right.

Condition:  appear to be in original condition

Provenance: from the estate of a former New York collector of Native American art.  The painting has a posting on verso identifying it as having been sold by Fisher Galleries in Albuquerque.

Recommended Reading: Broder, Patricia Janis. American Indian Painting and Sculpture, Abbeville Press, New York, 1981