Tonita Pena: Quah Ah, 1893-1949

Tonita Pena: Quah Ah, 1893-1949 by Gray, Samuel L.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780936755175.

Tonita Peña, whose Indian name was Quah Ah, was born in 1893 in the tiny New Mexico pueblo of San Ildefonso on the Rio Grande, just north of Santa Fe. At about the age of 12, her mother passed away and her father, unable to raise her and tend his fields and pueblo responsibilities, took her to live with her aunt and uncle at Cochiti Pueblo, where she spent the remainder of her life. Tonita was the only woman in the group of talented early pueblo artists referred to as The San Ildefonso Self-Taught Group, which included such noted artists as Julian Martinez, Alfonso Roybal, Abel Sanchez, Crescencio Martinez, and Encarnación Peña. By the time Tonita was 25 years old, she was a successful easel artist, and her work was being shown in museum exhibitions and in commercial art galleries in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. She painted what she knew best- scenes of life at the pueblo- mostly ceremonial dances and everyday events. Still considered one of the best female Indian artists of all time, Tonitas life has never before been presented in book form. It is a fitting tribute that 40 years after her death, this book is devoted to her life and art.