Untitled Taos Pueblo Painting of Woman Shucking Corn by Eva Mirabal [SOLD]

C4348A-paint3.jpg

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Eva Mirabal, Taos Pueblo Painter
  • Category: Paintings
  • Origin: Taos Pueblo, Tuah-Tah
  • Medium: watercolor
  • Size: 9" x 9” image;
    15-3/4” x 15-1/4” framed
  • Item # C4348A
  • SOLD

This Taos Pueblo painting is of the style which we expect from artist Eva Mirabal—daily pueblo life scenes, created in a style similar to the traditional pueblo “flat style.”  Mirabal’s subject here is a Taos Pueblo woman. The woman rests on her knees, shucking corn. Her face is beautiful, and the colors with which she was composed are bold and bright.  Mirabal’s human subjects don’t look much like those of her contemporaries, and they are always a treat to view. On the ground in front of her are two pumpkins and about a dozen ears of corn.  Their colors are softer, and appropriately earthy. A short patch of purple and white represents the ground. Other than this, there are no details representing the woman’s surroundings. Author and collector Patricia Janis Broder suggested that Mirabal may have been one of the first Indian School painters to create portraits, noting that “many of her figures were actually identifiable.”  The woman featured in this piece certainly feels like she was inspired by a real person. This is a wonderful piece from one of the most uniquely gifted early pueblo painters.

We are always pleased to be able to handle the sale of a painting by Taos Pueblo artist Eva Mirabal (1920-1968) Eah Ha Wa - Fast Growing Corn.  Her works are quaint, charming, and technically impressive.  Of the handful of Mirabal paintings that have passed through Adobe Gallery, the majority have been focused on daily pueblo life.  We’ve seen a few animal images, as well as a few ceremonial dancers which, interestingly, look much more like the works of the Kiowa Six than those of her pueblo peers.

Artist Signature - Eva Mirabal (1920-1968) Eah Ha Wa - Fast Growing CornThe painting is signed Eah Ha Wa and dated 44 in lower right.  It is framed under acrylic in a simple thin wood frame. Two layers of matting complement the subtle tones of the painting.

Eva Mirabal was a Taos Pueblo artist who studied at The Studio of the Santa Fe Indian School.  Mirabal began receiving attention as early as her teenage years, and was chosen to show at a Chicago gallery in 1939.  In 1943, she joined the Army. After basic training, she was assigned a post as a muralist. While in the Army, she created a comic strip titled “G.I. Gertie” which was circulated in Women’s Army Corps Publications.  After the war and a stint teaching at Southern Illinois Normal University, she returned to Taos to continue painting and studying art. Mirabal’s accomplishments—successful gallery exhibits, museum placements, and being the only woman included in the Philbrook Museum of Art’s 1946 First National Exhibition of Indian Painting—are even more impressive when one considers that she only lived to 49 years of age.


Condition: this Untitled Taos Pueblo Painting of Woman Shucking Corn by Eva Mirabal is in excellent condition

Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist by an early collector, who passed the painting along to the current owner

Reference and Recommended Reading: “Drawing from Life,” Jason Silverman, Santa Fean Magazine May 2002

Relative Links: Taos PuebloJoseph ImhofIndian PaintingEva Mirabal

Alternate close up view of a section of this painting.