Pablita Velarde Small Painting titled “Mimbres Turtles” [SOLD]

C4664D-paint.jpg

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Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo Painter
  • Category: Paintings
  • Origin: Santa Clara Pueblo, Kha'p'oo Owinge
  • Medium: mineral earth pigments on board
  • Size:
    4-½” x 6-⅝” image;
    14-⅛” x 16-⅛” framed
  • Item # C4664D
  • SOLD

This original painting was created by Santa Clara Pueblo artist Pablita Velarde. It is dated 1981, which places its creation far into the artist's long and fruitful career. This piece is smaller than her typical offering, but it is rich in beauty, energy, and movement.

Four turtles appear, swimming in a circle over gradually widening diagonal bands. A large turtle leads while three smaller turtles follow. Right-angled elements form kiva step and lightning patterns in the lower left and upper right corners. Two clusters of plants emerge, swaying gently in the water and providing gentle curves to balance the rigid straight lines and right angles used elsewhere. It is a strong, well-balanced composition that was executed with style and skill.

Artist signature of Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo PainterThe painting is signed Pablita Velarde and dated 1981 in lower left. It is framed in a wood frame, which is mounted on a fabric backing within a larger wood frame. This was the style preferred by Velarde and her daughter Helen Hardin during this era.

Pablita Velarde (1918-2006) Tse Tsan - Golden Dawn was an innovative and influential artist from Santa Clara Pueblo. Velarde was one of the first full-time female students in Dorothy Dunn's art class at the Santa Fe Indian School, where she studied alongside Tonita Peña. These two women are regarded as the first Native American women to support themselves as painters, but it's not just because of this that they are remembered so fondly. It's because of the quality of their works that they have remained so visible in the many years since they have passed. Velarde's works are included in many prominent public and private collections, and she is generally regarded as a significant figure in the world of Native American art. Velarde passed away in 2006.


Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Pablita Velarde Small Painting titled "Mimbres Turtles" is from a private New Mexico collection

Recommended Reading: The James T. Bialac Native American Art Collection - Selected Works

TAGS: Native American PaintingsSanta Clara PuebloTonita PeñawatercolorHelen HardinNavajo NationPablita Velarde

Close-up view of a section of this painting.

 

Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Pueblo Painter
  • Category: Paintings
  • Origin: Santa Clara Pueblo, Kha'p'oo Owinge
  • Medium: mineral earth pigments on board
  • Size:
    4-½” x 6-⅝” image;
    14-⅛” x 16-⅛” framed
  • Item # C4664D
  • SOLD

C4664D-paint.jpgC4664D-large.jpg Click on image to view larger.