Tribal Paintings

George Lilanga (1934-2005) - Tribal dance - Acrylic on board Painting size 61x61 cm. Frameless. George Lilanga was born in 1934 in the city of Kikwetu,...

Pueblo Dancers, painting, by Tonita Pena, Cochiti, Pueblo, Santa Fe, Native Amer Tonita Peña (born 1893 in San Ildefonso, died 1949 in Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico) was born as Quah Ah (meaning white coral beads) but also used the name Tonita Vigil Peña and María Antonia Tonita Peña. Peña was a renowned Pueblo artist, specializing in pen and ink on paper embellished with watercolor. She was a well-known and influential Native American artist and art teacher of the early 1920s and 1930s. Tonita Peña was born on May 10, 1893, at San Ildefonso Pueblo, to Ascensión Vigil Peña and Natividad Peña of San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico. When she was 12, her mother and younger sister died, as a result of complications due to the flu. Her father was unable to care for her and she was taken to Cochití Pueblo and was brought up by her aunt Martina Vigil Montoya, a prominent Cochití Pueblo potter. Peña attended St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe. Edgar Lee Hewett, an anthropologist involved in supervising the nearby Frijoles Canyon excavations (now Bandelier National Monument) was instrumental in developing the careers of several San Ildefonso “self-taught” artists including Tonita Peña. Hewett purchased Peña's paintings for the Museum of New Mexico and supplied her with quality paint and paper. Peña began gaining more notoriety by the end of the 1910s selling an increasing amount of her work to collectors and the La Fonda Hotel. Much of this early work was done of Pueblo cultural subject matter, in a style inspired by historic Native American works, however, her use of an artist's easel and Western painting mediums gained her acceptance among her European-American contemporaries in the art world. At the age of 25, she exhibited her work at museums and galleries in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque area. In the early 1920s, Tonita did not know how much her painting sold for at the Museum of New Mexico, so she wrote letters to the administrators because a local farmer was worried that she got paid too little. In the 1930s Peña was an instructor at the Santa Fe Indian School and at the Albuquerque Indian School and the only woman painter of the San Ildefonso Self-Taught Group, which included such noted artists as Alfonso Roybal, Julian Martinez, Abel Sánchez (Oqwa Pi), Crecencio Martinez, and Encarnación Peña. As children, these artists attended San Ildefonso day school which was part of the institution of the Dawes Act of 1887, designed to indoctrinate and assimilate Native American children into mainstream American society. In 1931, Tonita Peña exhibited at the Exposition of Indian Tribal Arts which was presented at the Grand Central Art Galleries in New York City. Works from this exhibition were shown at the 1932 Venice Biennial. That year is the only time Native American artists have shown in the official United States pavilion at that biennial, and Tonita Peña's paintings were part of that exhibition.[1 Her painting Basket Dance, that had shown in the Venice Biennial was acquired by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York for $225. This was the highest price paid up to this time for a Pueblo painting...

Highly detailed depiction of a Barong Mask dance in Bali. Several people wearing elaborate masks are taking part in a dance or ritual. People are dressed i...

Very large and detailed Ethnographic hand painted early 20th century tapa cloth from the Society Island of Wallis in French Polynesia. Laid on board. This piece is unusual both for ...

Red cubist tonal abstract painting of fish. The painting is signed by Jeanne Ann Enos who lived and worked in Houston, Texas. Enos was describe...

Earth-toned surrealist abstract with various figures and shapes. The painting has textured grooves creating a flowing motion to the painting. It is framed in a natural wooden frame.

Three dimensional tribal themed mask designed from painted wood and cardboard. Mainly a black composition with geometric shapes.

Sahara Desert Tuaregs on Camels original painting signed c1920s Unframed Art cartridge paper mounted on card Good condition with minor signs of age nothing major Removed from its ori...

Vibrant Mid Century Tribal Art Painting by Aku unlo Village Life Paper stuck on card measuring 67cms by 26cms Actual imagery measures 60cms by 16cms Only very minor signs of age most...