Original Painting of Mountain Spirit Dancer in Left Profile [SOLD]

In 1939, trader Maurice Maisel had famous architect John Gaw Meem design his trading post to be located in downtown Albuquerque on Route 66. With the assistance of artist Olive Rush, he had murals painted on the facade and entry of the building. She enlisted the help of a group of young Native American painters to complete the mural, including Harrison Begay, Narciso Abeyta, Awa Tsireh and others. Ignatius Palmer contributed to the mural by painting an image of an Apache Mountain Spirit Dancer.

Apache Mountain Spirit dancers are representatives of the Mountain People who appear in masked form among the Apache people. They perform healing rites, as well as dancing at girls’ puberty ceremonies. The masked dance performances may be used to protect and cure illness and to control the weather.

In this 1973 painting, Palmer skillfully fashioned an image of a Mountain Spirit Dancer. The hood is painted black and fits snugly over the head. With small brush strokes he created tiny eye and mouth holes. Attached to the top of the hood is an elaborate headpiece, comprised of multiple wooden slats, sometimes referred to as the horns. Palmer outlined the slats of the complex structure in black and added a single painted feather to the end of each one. He painted the dancer’s upper body and arms in black with white geometric designs. The yellow buckskin skirt with fringe and tall moccasins were rendered with exquisite details of red, black and green. The dancer carries a decorated wooden wand in each hand. The painting was signed and dated by the artist in the lower right corner.

Condition: The Original Painting of Mountain Spirit Dancer in Left Profile is in like-new condition.

Provenance: The Original Painting of Mountain Spirit Dancer is from a collection in New York

Recommended Reading: Southwest Indian Painting, A Changing Art by Clara Lee Tanner