The Maisel's Murals Restored: Native American Art of the American Southwest - Paperback

by Paul R. Secord (Author)

The murals fronting the entrance of Maisel's Indian Jewelry and Crafts store at 510 Central Avenue SW, Albuquerque, are a treasure of Native American painting and are of national importance. They represent some of the earliest and finest paintings by a seminal group of Southwestern native artists.This book is a follow-on to the author's The Maisel's Murals 1939 - Native American Art of the American Southwest published by Sunstone Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2018. However, it is a stand-alone publication designed to be a viewer guide to the subject art works, i.e. a companion for the observer to assist in the understanding of what they seeing when they look at the murals and to allow for individual interpretation of what is being viewed, rather than to be a presentation of names, date, and basic facts about the murals.The mural's subject matter demonstrates a unifying thematic context. Through the use of paired opposites, cultural themes and subjects can be compared and contrasted. In addition, the stylistic differences between artists, while showing the strong influence of training at "The Studio" art program at the Santa Fe Indian School established by Dorothy Dunn, they also demonstrate considerable differences in execution.The Maisel's building was designed by legendary New Mexico architect John Gaw Meem, popularizer of the Santa Fe Style. Meem hired well know Santa Fe artist Olive Rush for a total of $1,500 to paint the murals. She than hired eleven Native Americans to undertake the project and saw to it that they were paid a fair wageRush's included artists of varying ages, from forty-four year old Awa Tsireh of the first generation of Pueblo painters, to sixteen year old Popovi Da, a beginning Studio painter and the son of famous potters Maria and Julian Martinez, as well as including representatives of other principal Native American cultures in the Southwest.