Oqwa Pi

Oqwa Pi (English: Red Cloud[1] or Kachina Stick) also known as Abel Sanchez (1899–1971), was a San Ildefonso Pueblo painter, muralist, and politician. Pi was known for his brightly colored paintings.[1] He served as governor of the San Ildefonso Pueblo for six terms.[1]

Oqwa Pi
Born1899
San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, U.S.
Died1971 (aged 71–72)
Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.
Other namesAbel Sanchez, Red Cloud, Ogwa-Pi, Oqua Pi, Aqua Pi, Kachina Stick
Occupation(s)painter, muralist, politician
Buffalo Dancers, c.1920–1925. Watercolor and pencil on paperboard. Collection of the Smithsonian Institution

Biography

Oqwa Pi was born in 1899 in San Ildefonso Pueblo (Tewa: P'ohwhóge Owingeh) in New Mexico.[2] He was educated at the Santa Fe Indian School, where he learned watercolor and mural paintings;[3] he studied with Dorothy Dunn. The Indian School later commissioned him to create murals at the school. He then returned to the pueblo where he married and had a number of children.[2]

In 1931, the Exhibition of Indian Tribal Arts at the Grand Central Galleries in New York City happened, and as a result, Pi's work toured and was shown nationally including at the Museum of Modern Art.[4][5] He attended the Santa Fe Indian School, studying under Dorothy Dunn.[6] Pi has a mural at the Santa Fe Indian School, in the dining room.[7]

Oqwa Pi's paintings were executed in one of the two specific styles that are associated with the San Ildefonso school, a Native art movement of self-taught artists from 1900 to 1935. His subjects include festivals, dances and native ceremonies.[1] Regarding his paintings of Native ceremonial dances, his son Gilbert, also a painter, stated that Oqwa Pi painted spiritual, but not secretive dances that "didn't exploit their spirituality in a senseless way".[8]

Pi also was a politician, having served serving six terms as governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo.[1]

Later in life, Pi and his wife move to Santa Fe, New Mexico to live. Pi died in 1971 in Los Alamos, New Mexico.[2] Two of his sons became painters, Gilbert Sánchez,[8] and Ramos Sánchez (born 1926).[9] His grandson, Russell Sánchez is a painter and potter.[10]

Collections

His work is included in museum collections including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum,[2] Detroit Institute of Arts,[11] Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,[12] Brooklyn Museum,[3] Ackland Art Museum,[13] and Denver Art Museum.[14]

See also

References
  1. Lough, Alex Wagner (February 28, 2011). "Native American Watercolors". Brandeis.edu. Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections, Brandeis University. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  2. "Oqwa Pi". Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  3. "Oqwa Pi aka Abel Sanchez – San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1889-1971". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  4. Iverson, Peter; Davies, Wade (2014-07-23). "We Are Still Here": American Indians Since 1890. John Wiley & Sons. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-118-75170-1.
  5. Indians at Work. United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington D.C.: United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. February 15, 1936. p. 22.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "Abel (Oqwa Pi) Sanchez - Biography". Askart.com. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  7. "Deer Dance". Metropolitan Library System. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  8. Scott, Sacha T. (2020). "Ana-Ethnographic Representation: Early Modern Pueblo Painters, Scientific Colonialism and Tactics of Refusal". Arts. 9 (6): 6. doi:10.3390/arts9010006.
  9. "Ramos Sanchez". Adobe Gallery. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  10. "Russell Sanchez, San Ildefonso Pueblo Artist". Adobe Gallery. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  11. "Abel Sanchez". Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).
  12. "Oqwa Pi (Abel Sánchez)". The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
  13. "Abel Sanchez (Oqwa Pi)". ackland.emuseum.com. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  14. "Man and Buffalo". Denver Art Museum. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
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