Running Horse

Awa Tsireh, Running Horse, ca. 1925-1930, watercolor and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Corbin-Henderson Collection, gift of Alice H. Rossin, 1979.144.32
Awa Tsireh, Running Horse, ca. 1925-1930, watercolor and ink on paper, sheet: 11 1414 14 in. (28.536.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Corbin-Henderson Collection, gift of Alice H. Rossin, 1979.144.32

Artwork Details

Title
Running Horse
Artist
Date
ca. 1925-1930
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 11 1414 14 in. (28.536.2 cm)
Credit Line
Corbin-Henderson Collection, gift of Alice H. Rossin
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor and ink on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — weather — sun
  • Landscape — phenomenon — rainbow
  • Animal — horse
Object Number
1979.144.32

Artwork Description

The paintings of Awa Tsireh (1898-1955), who was also known by his Spanish name, Alfonso Roybal, represent an encounter between the art traditions of native Pueblo peoples in the southwestern United States and the American modernist art style begun in New York in the early twentieth century. The son of distinguished potters, Awa Tsireh translated geometic pottery designs into stylized watercolors that feature the ceremonial dancers and practices of Pueblo communities. But Awa Tsireh's work is more than an amalgam of traditional and modernist design. At a time when the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs attempted to restrict Pueblo cultural and religious practices, the watercolors of Awa Tsireh and other Pueblo artists helped to affirm the importance of ceremonial dance and tirual to cultural survival.

Awa Tsireh's paintings quickly found an audience among the artists, writers, and archaeologists who descended on Santa Fe in great numbers in the late 1910s and 1920s. Painter John Sloan and poet Alice Corbin Henderson took a particular interest and arranged for his watercolors to be exhibited in New York, Chicago, and elsewhere. Henderson shared with the young Pueblo painter books on European and American modernism and Japanese woodblock prints, as well as South Asian miniatures and ancient Egyptian art that provided soure material for his stylized paintings. In this way, he redefined contemporary Pueblo art and created a new, pan-Pueblo style.

The paintings in this exhibition were donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1979 by the Hendersons' daughter, Alice H. Rossin.

Works by this artist (1 item)

Zedekiah Belknap, Portrait of a Woman, first half of 19th century, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.99
Portrait of a Woman
Datefirst half of 19th century
oil on canvas
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Rudolf Staffel, Light Gatherer, 1985, hand-built translucent porcelain, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance, 1987.43
Light Gatherer
Date1985
hand-built translucent porcelain
On view
Ron Fondaw, Fingers, 1978, thrown, slip-cast, and salt-glazed porcelain, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Suzanne Kores, 1981.18
Fingers
Date1978
thrown, slip-cast, and salt-glazed porcelain
Not on view
Henry Lyman, Coupling Pots, 1979, porcelain with barium-copper glaze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1981.56A-D
Coupling Pots
Date1979
porcelain with barium-copper glaze
Not on view
Catharine Hiersoux, Columns, 1979, wheel-thrown, assembled, and glazed porcelain, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of an anonymous donor, 1980.61.4
Columns
Date1979
wheel-thrown, assembled, and glazed porcelain
Not on view