Zia Pueblo Painting of Buffalo Dancer by Rafael Medina [SOLD]

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Rafael Medina, Zia Pueblo Painter
  • Category: Paintings
  • Origin: Zia Pueblo, Tsi-ya
  • Medium: gouache
  • Size:
    14-½” x 10-½” image;
    20-⅞” x 16-⅞” framed
  • Item # C4586A
  • SOLD

Alternate close up view of a part of the dancer.

This excellent painting of a Buffalo Dancer was created by Rafael Medina of Zia Pueblo. Medina is one of what we sometimes refer to as the “second generation” group of Pueblo painters—artists who came after the San Ildefonso and 1930s Santa Fe Indian School groups, often working in some slightly altered or modernized version of the earlier styles.

Medina’s appealing variation on the traditional style adds depth, simple landscapes, and colorful decorative elements to the established format, and the results can be quite striking. Here, we see an excellent execution of a Buffalo Dancer in the foreground. He is remarkably detailed and carefully shaded, forming an image that feels a bit more realistic than the earlier generation’s works. His color palette leans heavily on beautiful browns and reds, which feels appropriate for this particular subject.  In the background, a Pueblo scene appears in wispy grays. From the upper right corner, a colorful sun shines down on the proceedings. This is a wonderful example of a talented artist successfully creating his own version of the traditional Pueblo style.

Artist Signature and hallmark symbol of Rafael Medina, Zia Pueblo PainterThe painting is signed Rafael Medina within a Zia Sun Symbol in lower right. It is framed in a carved wood frame, under a dark brown mat.

Zia Pueblo produced some excellent painters, the most notable being Velino Herrera (Ma-Pe-Wi) in the early 20th century and Rafael Medina (1929-1998) Teeyacheena in the mid-20th century.  Medina attended the Santa Fe Indian School after the departure of Dorothy Dunn, during the tenure of art teacher Gerónima Montoya, probably entering school in the early 1940s. Dunn, in her book American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas, stated "Rafael Medina paints hunting and various rain dances of primitive feeling with vigorous strokes of dark, rich paint.  Again, in a lighter vein, he creates lovely shimmering effects of darks and lights on pale grounds." Clara Lee Tanner’s book Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art stated that he studied at Albuquerque under Velino Herrera and José Rey Toledo.  She does not state that he attended the Albuquerque Indian School, but perhaps that is where he studied before entering the Santa Fe Indian School.  Neither Dunn nor Tanner is clear about that.  Following high school, he attended The Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.


Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Zia Pueblo Painting of Buffalo Dancer by Rafael Medina is from a private Santa Fe collection

References:  

- American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas by Dorothy Dunn

Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art by Clara Lee Tanner

Relative Links: Zia PuebloVelino Shije HerreraJose Rey ToledoGeronima MontoyaApachesNavajosQuincy TahomapaintingsRafael Medina, Zia Pueblo Painter

Alternate close up view of a part of the dancer.