Basket Dance
- Date
- 1922–32
- Material
- Commercial tempera on paper
- made in
- New Mexico, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Drawings & watercolors
- Collection
- Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 14 1/8 x 22 1/2 in. (35.9 x 57.2 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 92:1932
NOTES
Women at center grasp distinct baskets while men at back rhythmically shake rattles. Tonita Peña devoted remarkable attention to detail in this watercolor. Describing her figures in a letter from 1921, she said, “I paint just the way they wear their dresses.”
Peña aligned each dancer in this composition to convey action, depth, and community. This critical artistic achievement defied federal efforts in the 1920s to suppress Pueblo dances. Basket dances, as seen here, contribute to annual cycles of religious performances at many Pueblo communities, including Cochiti. There, Peña lived and worked as the sole woman in the first generation of Indigenous easel painters in northern New Mexico.
Provenance
- 1932
Spanish and Indian Trading Company, Santa Fe, NM, USA [1]
1932 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Spanish and Indian Trading Company [2]
Notes:
[1] On October 13, 1932, president of the Spanish and Indian Trading Co. J. H. MacMillan wrote to Hugo A. Koehler, member of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, “Yesterday we sent you the group of paintings listed on the attached memorandum invoice.” The enclosed shipping list includes Basket Dance by Tonita Peña. In an October 15, 1932, letter to MacMillan, the Museum Director confirmed receipt of “the Indian water colors which [Mr. Koehler] asked you to send.” Director's Office General Correspondence, Saint Louis Art Museum Archives.
[2] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, November 3, 1932.
Spanish and Indian Trading Company, Santa Fe, NM, USA [1]
1932 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Spanish and Indian Trading Company [2]
Notes:
[1] On October 13, 1932, president of the Spanish and Indian Trading Co. J. H. MacMillan wrote to Hugo A. Koehler, member of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, “Yesterday we sent you the group of paintings listed on the attached memorandum invoice.” The enclosed shipping list includes Basket Dance by Tonita Peña. In an October 15, 1932, letter to MacMillan, the Museum Director confirmed receipt of “the Indian water colors which [Mr. Koehler] asked you to send.” Director's Office General Correspondence, Saint Louis Art Museum Archives.
[2] Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, November 3, 1932.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.