Description:
Watercolor on paper. Signed l.r.: Ben Quintana Cochiti, Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 54.
From: American Indian Painters, Vol. 2, p. 8: Ben was "an ammunition carrier in a light machine gun squadron charged with protection of the right flank of his troop which was counterattacked by superior numbers. The gunner was killed and the assistant gunner critically wounded. "Private Quintana", [Jacobson uses Quintano throughout] the citation continues, "refused to retire from his hazardous position and gallantly rushed forward to fire into the enemy, inflicting heavy casualties. While so engaged, he was mortally wounded. By this extraordinary courage he repulsed the counter attack and prevented the envelopment of the right flank of his troop. Private Quintana's unflinching devotion to duty and heroism under fire inspired his troop to attack and seize the enemy's strong point." (Citation, 1945) He was awarded a Silver Star, posthumously, for gallantry in action on Luzon, 1944. So ended the brilliant artistic career of an American hero, the shy, smiling little Pueblo Indian boy with the heart of a lion. Ben Quintana was born in Cochiti in 1921. He attended the village school, where he painted his first mural while still in the fifth grade. Another mural of his is in his second alma mater, the Indian School in Santa Fe. At the age of sixteen he won first prize over eighty contestants, of whom seven were Indians, for a poster to be used in the Coronado Quarto Centennial celebration. Two years later he won First Prize and a thousand dollars in the American Magazine Youth Forum Contest in which there were 52, 578 entries by young artists from the whole nation. He had chosen as his subject for this competition "My Community -- Its Place in the Nation." It is a fairly large painting of his own pueblo of Cochiti. Over it dwells quiet, peace, and contentment. A few months after winning this contest Ben had an article published in American Magazine entitled "I Discover America." It is a beautiful statement of American ideals spoken with simplicity and dignity. His paintings were exhibited far and wide in all the great museums from Virginia to California, and some have found their way into private and public collections. The "Buffalo Dance" is a typical example of Ben Quintana's work while he was a pupil at the Indian school in Santa Fe. It already shows his extraordinary talent. Simple in composition, the repetition of the two figures emphasizes the rhythm. The harmony of forceful lines and restrained colors produces an effect of stately dignity. (Collection, Oscar Brousse Jacobson) Map references: Cochiti Pueblo (N.M.)