Pablita Velarde, Old Father Storyteller, 373/1500
Pablita Velarde
1918-2006
Santa Clara Pueblo
Alternative Name
Tse Tsan, Golden Dawn
Date
c.1977
Medium Specific
Print, signed
Classification
Print
Dimensions
24 x 29 in. (61 x 73.7 cm)
Accession Number
1977.25.20.01
Biography
One of the leading painters of the 20th century, Pablita Velarde/Tse Tsan “Golden Dawn” (Santa Clara Pueblo) (1918-2006) was a pioneer as a woman artist in an era and a community where painting was a male art form.
Her painting began in a traditional manner but evolved through many original styles and media. She engaged in the experimentation that the best artists practice, in media or style. She cared deeply about depicting traditional lifeways that she feared would be lost and using her art to tell the stories of those lifeways. Over the decades she was an effective spokesperson discussing her art and the larger issues of the Native art world.
Her painting began in a traditional manner but evolved through many original styles and media. She engaged in the experimentation that the best artists practice, in media or style. She cared deeply about depicting traditional lifeways that she feared would be lost and using her art to tell the stories of those lifeways. Over the decades she was an effective spokesperson discussing her art and the larger issues of the Native art world.
Date of Bio