Artist

Julian Martinez

born San Ildefonso Pueblo, NM 1879-died San Ildefonso Pueblo, NM 1943
Also known as
  • Pocano
Born
San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, United States
Died
San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, United States
Active in
  • Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
Biography

Although Julian Martinez (San Ildefonso Pueblo) created many paintings on paper, he is best known for his collaborations with his wife, the potter Maria Martinez (San Ildefonso Pueblo). Maria formed and polished the elegant vessels and Julian applied the painted decoration. Although they occasionally created vessels with colored designs, the couple gained an international reputation for their wok with matte black decorations on polished black surfaces.

In part, the national popularity of their pottery can be attributed to the ease with which the smooth, geometric shapes matched the art deco style of design of the 1930s and 1940s, or as Maria simply put it: "Black goes with everything." Julian painted the small Bowl (see illustration, page 2), which was formed by Maria with the Avanyu or horned serpent that also appears in his watercolor painting of Avanyu.

Andrew Connors Pueblo Indian Watercolors: Learning by Looking, A Study Guide (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art, 1993).

Works by this artist (2 items)

Melesio Casas, Humanscape 62, 1970, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.37, © 1970, the Casas Family
Humanscape 62
Date1970
acrylic on canvas
On view
Melesio Casas, Humanscape 141: Barrio Dog, 1987, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1998.90, © 1987, Mel Casas
Humanscape 141: Barrio Dog
Date1987
acrylic on canvas
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 1985.66.404 - SAAM-1985.66.404_1 - 9039
Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists
October 11, 2019March 13, 2020
Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists examines representations of buffalo and their integration into the lives of Native Americans on the Great Plains in the 1830s and in the twentieth century.
Media - 2016.11 - SAAM-2016.11_6 - 124929
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
November 13, 2015March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.