Description:
Watercolor on paper. Signed l.r.: MaPeWi, Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 41.
From: American Indian Painters, Vol. 2, p. 5: Velino Herrera, at first called Velino Shije, is one of the major Pueblo artists of the older modern group. He comes from an artistic family of potters, weavers, and silversmiths. When the state of New Mexico adopted as its emblem the sun symbol of the Pueblo Indians, although this symbol had long been known to the Whites for what it is, Ma-Pe-Wi was accused by his own people of Zia of betraying them by giving it to the Whites. He was ostracized and forced to abandon the name of Shije as unworthy of it. Zia is exceedingly conservative. He taught art for a time at the Indian School in Albuquerque, and now makes his home in Picuris where he owns a ranch. He decorated with murals the recreation room in the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, D.C. Ma-Pe-Wi's work shows great versatility. He can accomplish a happy blend of realism with symbolism. While he has not received as much publicity as Awa Tsireh, some connoisseurs consider him more vigorous and virile, and freer from outside influence. His preferred subjects are the dances of the secret societies and the daily life of the Pueblos. The older Indian artists concentrated mostly on religious ceremonials; the younger set seems to prefer buffalo and deer hunting as subjects for their paintings. So it is a welcome relief to find some pictures showing men at their prosaic work as farmers, women at their craft of pottery making. "The Pueblo Pottery Makers" is interesting in form and in color. It gives valuable information about the process of pottery making today and the characteristic designs of Zia pottery. As a composition it is somewhat faulty, and the figures are scattered and placed too low. (Collection, University of Oklahoma) Map references: Zia Pueblo (N.M.)