Ancestral Spirits
Artist
John Sloan
(American, 1871 - 1951)
Date1919
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsImage: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Frame: 28 1/8 × 24 3/16 × 2 1/8 in. (71.4 × 61.4 × 5.4 cm)
Frame: 28 1/8 × 24 3/16 × 2 1/8 in. (71.4 × 61.4 × 5.4 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, 1920
Object number45.23P
DescriptionSeven Native American Koshare dancers are descending the stairs of the pueblo building with mountains in the background. The dancer's bodies are painted grey with black circles, they wear yellow feathers on their heads and have clusters of evergreen trees tied to their belts.eMuseum Notes
Ancestral Spirits captures a group of koshare, sacred clowns, as they emerge from a kiva or ceremonial chamber for a Pueblo celebration. Koshare are tricksters that critique the foibles of humanity but also assist in Pueblo prayers for rain and fertility. John Sloan encountered the koshare during his first visit to Santa Fe in 1919. Sloan was so charmed by New Mexico that he returned annually over the next thirty years. Sloan favored frank depictions of the everyday life, eschewing romanticized subjects.
On View
On viewTerms
- Pueblo
- dancers
- ceremonies
- men
- mountains
- Native American
There are no works to discover for this record.