Description:
Watercolor on paper. Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 51.
From: American Indian Painters, Vol. 2, p. 7: Adolph Naranjo is a Tewa of Santa Clara, born in 1916. In Santa Fe he studied under Miss Dunn and Mrs. Montoya. He had been recommended to represent the Santa Fe school at the San Francisco World's Fair but was prevented from doing so by the stern necessity of working to earn a living. He has exhibited in many places and while he has sold good numbers of his paintings, he has been too modest to keep a record of his patrons. "Hunting the Buffalo" is an excellent example of his work done while he was in school. The buffalo hunter on horseback can hardly be classified as a Pueblo Indian. The Pueblos were farmers, not buffalo hunters. This subject has become a favorite among many of the younger Indians of many tribes due to its popularity with would-be buyers. Naranjo shows understanding of the essentials of composition and of the use of forceful color. If the color of the Indian hunters had not been so closely related to that of the bison the effect would have been richer. The young Pueblo artist would, however, be severely criticized by the older men, of the Plains tribes for picturing the hunters trying to shoot a buffalo by aiming an arrow on the right side of the horses neck instead of the left. (Collection, Oscar Brousse Jacobson)