Antelope Dance
Artist
B. J. O. Nordfeldt
(American, born Sweden, 1878 - 1955)
Date1919
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsImage: 33 5/8 × 43 in. (85.4 × 109.2 cm)
Frame: 41 1/4 × 50 1/2 × 2 in. (104.8 × 128.3 × 5.1 cm)
Frame: 41 1/4 × 50 1/2 × 2 in. (104.8 × 128.3 × 5.1 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from the Archaeological Society & Friends of Southwestern Art, 1920
Object number274.23P
Description13 Native American figures in costume performing the antelope dance; 2 in center bent forward with head down, wearing antelope horns on head; other figures dancing in a horizontal line, wearing white loin cloth and red bands around waist, half are holding bows; mountains in backgroundeMuseum Notes
Painted the year of Nordfeldt’s arrival in Santa Fe, Antelope Dance is typical of the artist’s early Southwest work, representing Indigenous ceremonies in a style deeply influenced by the non-representational color of the French Fauves and the loose brushwork of the German Expressionists of Europe. Before coming to New Mexico, Nordfeldt studied in Chicago and later Paris, where work of Paul Cézanne had a significant impact on his palette and style. His New Mexican work marries French modernism with the environment and culture of the American Southwest.
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