Pop Chalee Original Painting of a Mythical Blue Horse

An original painting by Pop Chalee of the Mythical Horse is one of the most iconic and prized of all her art.  It is a watercolor on black paper.  The horse is blue, the tail and mane are green with white hair.  The beautiful mane and tail are amazingly detailed with each hair individually drawn.  It is beautifully framed with acid-free mats and a silver wood frame. It is signed in the lower right with her name Pop Chalee and feather logo.

The legend of the Mythical Horse as dictated by Pop Chalee:

"Before the Spaniards came, the Indians had no means of transportation except for huge, beautiful dogs they used for carrying and packing.

"When the Spaniards came, they brought with them their beautiful Arabian horses.  All forms of life are sacred to the Indians, and these beautiful horses became especially sacred not only because of their beauty but because they were so swift and tireless.  The Indians could now travel great distances, they could have larger hunts and faster hunting.  With the horses, however, also came wars between tribes and stealing of horses and treachery.

"In Taos, the Indians were proud of an especially beautiful Arabian stallion.  This horse sired many beautiful colts and brought happiness and prosperity to the pueblo.  When he died, the Indians felt that the spirit of such a noble animal could not die.  And sure enough, a Mythical Horse began to ride through the Pueblo at night.  He appears with the evening star, and his gorgeous tail and mane sweep out in the night wind.  With the coming of the morning star he leaves.  This legend is told during the winter nights to the children and they believe that they can hear him at night as he rides and watches protectingly over his pueblo people."

Pop Chalee was known for her whimsical interpretations of animal and forest scenes executed in bold, bright colors. She studied in the 1930s at the Santa Fe Indian School under the tutelage of Dorothy Dunn, whose influence is quite apparent in her work as she created traditional two-dimensional scenes of animals and everyday pueblo life. However, she veered away from Dunn's more conservative interpretations of Native life with her use of color and expressive creature designs. She displayed extreme delicacy in drawing and a delightfully imaginative touch in her creations. Highly stylized though much of her drawing is, charm remains in the exquisite touch of lacy trees and the filminess of horses' manes and tails.

Merina Lujan (1906-1993) Pop Chalee - Blue Flower was born in Castle Rock, Utah, to a Taos Pueblo father and an East Indian Mother. She spent most of her adult life away from Taos Pueblo, mostly in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She long ago developed a unique style of painting which combines Asian and American Indian motifs. Accused of painting in the "Bambi Style" she explained that it was the other way around — Walt Disney Studios painted in her style. At one time Walt Disney visited Santa Fe to recruit Indian painters to work in his studio. Before returning to California, he purchased one of her forest scenes. It was her belief that one of her deer was the inspiration for Bambi. (Seymour 1988)

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Pop Chalee Original Painting of a Mythical Blue Horse is from the collection of a California client to whom we sold this in 2017.

References and Recommended Reading:

- The World of Flower Blue, Margaret Cesa

- When The Rainbow Touches Down, Tryntje Van Ness Seymour

TAGS: Taos Pueblo, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Native American Painting