Male and female figures from the Buffalo Dance

Romando Vigil, artist

Cultural affiliations: San Ildefonso

1902–1978

C. Szwedzicki, publisher

active 1929–1952

Male and female figures from the Buffalo Dance, 1932

Portfolio/Series title: Pueblo Indian Painting Portfolio

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: pochoir

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 294 x 411 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 11 9/16 x 16 3/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 370 x 490 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 9/16 x 19 5/16 in

Credit line: Transfer from Library

Accession number: 1987.0240

Not on display

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Under Construction

The Buffalo Dance illustrated here is particular to San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico, to which artist Romando Vigil belonged. This dance is typically performed during the winter hunting season. The two male figures are dressed in ceremonial attire that includes a piece of heavy buffalo fur worn over the head. Eagle down is attached to this headdress along with two protruding horns. The dancers each carry a gourd rattle and a bow and arrow. The two women, who represent Buffalo Maidens, wear elaborate parrot and macaw feather headdresses. Shells carried in their bouquets add a rhythmic clicking sound to their movements.

This print is one of fifty works included in the 1932 Pueblo Indian Painting portfolio that was published by C. Szwedzicki in Nice, France. A few years earlier, Szwedzicki’s small French publishing company began producing high-quality reproductions of Native American watercolor paintings in pochoir-a printmaking technique using stencils-that were sold to museums and libraries. In total, Szwedzicki produced six portfolios of Native American artworks, all of which contributed to a wider circulation of works by Native American artists, including Romando Vigil, in both Europe and the United States.

Exhibition Label:
"Conversaton XI: Pomp Up the Jam, Performance & Pageanty in Art," Jun-2011, SMA 2010-2011 Interns
Adornment & Continuity
This space contains two groups of artworks that relate to the exhibition’s theme.The first of these focuses on costume and ornament. Through their splendor, scale, or visual references, these adornments activate the people or objects that they embellish by drawing attention to them and visually distinguishing them.The rituals, processions, and performances associated with these ornaments span cultures around the world, and occupy both sacred and secular contexts. For instance, the shimmering embroidery of the 18th century liturgical chasuble-a vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist-designated its wearer, a Catholic priest, as the enactor of a sacred ritual, while the gleaming armor breastplate emphasized the prowess and wealth of the man who proudly wore it on civic or military occasions.The second group of objects document pageantry as a way to maintain historic legacies and express desires for beneficial outcomes. Photographs depict young people participating in events whose roots stretch back generations, while Romando Vigil’s pochoir, or stencil, of Pueblo dancers pictures the artist’s experience of age-old traditions. Many of the activities and rituals represented in this space, such as the Catholic liturgy, the Abelam yam festival in Papua New Guinea, and American Main Street parades, unite communities and ensure that their values and identities are carried into the future.