Joe A. Quintana, Cochiti Pueblo Painter

Little has been published about Cochiti Pueblo painter Joe A. Quintana—not to be confused with Joe H. Quintana, who was a silversmith and the father of Cippy Crazyhorse.  One might assume that Joe A. Quintana was related to well-known Cochiti painter Ben Quintana, but a knowledgeable collector has informed us that the two men were not related.  According to this collector, Joe A. Quintana passed away 5 to 10 years ago.

Clara Lee Tanner’s Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art provides a bit of information about Quintana: “Quite a number of other young people from Cochiti started painting at the Indian School in Santa Fe; among them was Joe A. Quintana.  He did several paintings with the title, ‘My Community—Its Place in the Nation’ for (an) American Magazine contest.  In one of them, men and women in typical pueblo dress and jewelry are going about their daily activities; there are also suggestions of ritual activities.  A small pueblo is pictured with a large symbolic rainbow overhead. A second painting of the same title is more preoccupied with outside contacts; for example, there are pictured a schoolhouse, a church, a flagpole, and other evidences of outside influence.  Joe Quintana also painted individual village scenes, such as Koosa Leading Corn Dance.  Seemingly, he did little or no painting after he left school.”

Relative Links: Cochiti Pueblo,  Joe H. Quintana, Cippy Crazyhorse, Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art; Native American Painting