![]() ![]() ![]() I mean, they really had control of what they were showing.” “But it was the Indians who chose the imagery and who chose the designs. “Indeed, the Anglo patrons were important,” Moser continued. “One of the things that is sort of a touchy thing … is some people have given maybe too much emphasis toward the Anglo influence on getting these works done,” Moser said. Moser was quick, however, to minimize any causation between the white patrons and the works’ worldliness (using the word “Anglo,” a root of “English,” to describe non-Native American people). While the style is intrinsically Native American, Tsireh is traveling far outside his culture to portray his subjects - much as Mary Cassatt brought an American sensibility to her impressionist work in France or as El Greco used his Greek iconography to influence his Spanish painting. In later works, bright colors and geometric forms echo the Art Deco that was taking hold in America’s metropolises. In many pieces, profile forms that hark back to Egyptian tomb wall art (with their feet and bodies at directional odds) repeat themselves to evoke the rhythm of Native American ceremonies, Moser said. Tsireh also incorporated Art Deco style, popular during the early 20th century. “He was exposed to European and American modernism, Japanese woodblock prints, South Asian miniatures Egyptian art through these reproductions in the library of Penhallow Henderson,” Moser said. “But they did allow him to look in their library, and so he got to see a lot of different types of art from around the world, some of which is reflected in his work.” “They invited him over to their house, and they didn’t give him any training, they did not want to change his vision too much,” Moser said. Tsireh became familiar with some of these movements through his patrons, American artist William Penhallow Henderson and his wife, poet Alice Corbin Henderson. From ancient Egyptian murals to early Renaissance naturalism, one can see the influence of history in design, medium and color. Tsireh, who worked in the early- to mid-20th century, presents a key difference from the common conception of Native American art in that his work is visibly connected with other worldwide movements. “But in fact they’re very happy that we’re doing this, because they like this artist to be seen in the context of American art and not just marginalized in a more anthropological way.” “We have the Museum of American Indian as part of the Smithsonian as well, and I was a little worried at the beginning that they might resent us doing a show,” Moser said. Deputy chief curator Joann Moser, who organized the exhibition, explained the perceived possible conflict. ![]() Most culturally and historically controversial is the question of what prompts some Native American artists to be exhibited in the National Museum of the American Indian, ostensibly viewed in the context of their own culture, and others to be shown among the annals of all American art in the nearby Smithsonian American Art Museum?Ī new exhibition of Pueblo Indian painter Awa Tsireh at SAAM begins to answer that question. Rossin.The Smithsonian Institution, by way of its sheer size and purview, has the unique capacity to step heavily on its own toes.īecause it has so many diverse component organizations, what belongs where can prove an open question. The paintings in this exhibition were donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1979 by the Hendersons' daughter, Alice H. In this way, he redefined contemporary Pueblo art and created a new, pan-Pueblo style. 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. 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. ![]() 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.Īwa 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. But Awa Tsireh's work is more than an amalgam of traditional and modernist design. The son of distinguished potters, Awa Tsireh translated geometic pottery designs into stylized watercolors that feature the ceremonial dancers and practices of Pueblo communities. 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. ![]()
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