Tomás Vigil Painting of Snake Dancers

This watercolor painting by Tomás Vigil is an exceptional piece of early 20th-century Pueblo art. It beautifully captures the distinct style and cultural preservation work that defined his career at Tesuque Pueblo.

The piece is an excellent example of the early "Studio Style" or traditional Pueblo watercolor genre that emerged in the 1910s and 1920s. True to the early tradition, Vigil omits any background, ground plane, or horizon line. This focuses the viewer's undivided attention strictly on the ceremonial figures. Looking closely at the signature and the outlines, you can see how Vigil sketched his composition in pencil before applying watercolor and finalizing the edges with ink.

The use of flat, bold pigments — such as the striking blue arms and hands, the crisp black-and-white patterns on the kilts, and the stark black paint on the dancers' faces — creates a high-contrast visual that makes the figures jump off the paper.

The painting depicts two ceremonial Snake Dancers in active, rhythmic motion. The figure on the left bends down to interact with a coiled snake on the ground, while the figure on the right holds a writhing serpent. Vigil was renowned for being a self-taught artist who documented the ceremonies, costumes, and agricultural life of the Tesuque people with immense fidelity. The kilts, body paint, feathers, and footwear are rendered with precise attention to the traditional regalia used in Pueblo dances. Despite the flat, two-dimensional constraints of the style, Vigil gives the figures a wonderful sense of life and physical momentum through their bent postures and the fluid curves of the snakes.

Tomas Vigil (1889-1960) Pan-Yo-Pin - Summer Mountain was one of the absolute pioneers of early modern Pueblo painting, actively working as early as 1914. His work helped pave the way for later generations of painters, including his son, Paul Vigil.

Works by Vigil from this era are highly historic. He was featured in landmark exhibitions that introduced Native American fine art to the broader American public, including a 1927 show at New York's Riverside Museum and the famous 1931 Exposition of Indian Tribal Arts in New York.

The painting is floated on a white background to reveal the full scope of the paper. It has recently been framed with archival materials and blond wood frame. In the bottom left, the piece features the artist's distinct signature, written as Pan yo Pin and underneath that, his pueblo Tesuque.

Paintings from this mid-20th-century era that managed to survive in such crisp, well-preserved condition are highly regarded by collectors of Southwestern and Native American art today. It is a striking testament to Vigil's role as a cultural chronicler.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Tomás Vigil Painting of Snake Dancers is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery

Recommended Reading: Tanner, Clara Lee.  Southwest Indian Painting: a changing art (pp. 74, 182-83)