JOHN NIETO
FORCE S OF COLOR AND SP IRIT
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LewAllenGalleries
John Nieto (1936-2018)
FORCES OF COLOR AND SPIRIT July 22 - August 22, 2022
Railyard Arts District | 1613 Paseo de Peralta | Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 | 505.988.3250 1 www.lewallengalleries.com | contact@lewallengalleries.com cover: Taos Drum Talk (detail), 1989, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 in
JOHN NIETO | Forces of Color and Spirit John Nieto is a leading figure in American contemporary art, celebrated for his emotionally resonant paintings of Southwestern, Indigenous, and wildlife subjects conveyed in heightened, expressive color. Nieto was inspired by both his own heritage and his deep study of the history and culture throughout the Southwest. (Nieto’s ancestry—a mix of Spanish and Native American—Mescalero Apache and Navajo—can be traced back more than three hundred years in New Mexico.) During his distinguished career that spanned six decades, Nieto’s distinctively expressive works became known for their use of bold, expressive, and intuitive color combinations in conveying Indigenous warriors, fancy dancers, chieftains, bead makers, and other contemporary or historical icons of the Southwest. The vibrancy and eloquence of Nieto’s colors, and the adept combinations he made from them, provides a visual language that captivates and enraptures his viewers. “We are born with a genetic memory or consciousness of color, and everyone’s choice of color is personal,” he observed. Inspired by his Native American and New Mexican roots, Nieto painted a wide range of figures from Southwestern culture and lore—both contemporary and historical—with an intensely fauvist palette and powerful brushwork. Nieto was known as a brilliant colorist, and in all of the works in this exhibition, his use of color is raw, expressive, and intuitive. Inspired after visiting an exhibition of Fauvist art at the Dallas Art Museum in 1959, Nieto travelled to Paris, visiting museums with collections of art by prominent Fauvist artists. His discovery of the fauvist treatment of color, which enlisted striking, non-naturalistic color to communicate emotional meanings, was crucial to Nieto’s development. A notable aspect of Nieto’s paintings are the bold ribbons of color that outline his figures and animals, which have been referred to as auras or halations. Another artist Nieto counted as among his major influences is the esteemed 19th century French Neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. A great colorist in his own right, Ingres declared that “color is the animal part of art.” For Nieto, painting a century later, a more apt truth would be hard to find. Nieto was deeply influenced by the beliefs and culture of his Native American heritage, including the importance of animals as part of the creation story and as sacred carriers of spiritual meanings. For him, color expressed his deepest impulses, passions and feelings. In his words, “My colors express my worldview.”
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Over the course of his career, Nieto’s work was exhibited across the United States and in Europe, Japan, Latin America, and Africa. After participating in an exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, Nieto met with President Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office of the White House and presented him with his painting, Delegate to the White House. The work was hung in in the White House for many years and was later included in the collection of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. “In the history of art only a select number of artists distinguish themselves as originators of a personal idiom that reverberates beyond place and time,” writes art historian Susan Hallsten McGarry. “John Nieto is one of those originals. His eye-dazzling paintings rank him among the vanguard of contemporary American colorists.”
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Wolf Robe (Cheyenne), 1992 Acrylic on canvas, 30" x 24" 3
Crow at Pow-Wow, 1989 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 4
Oklahoma Fancy Dancer, 2011 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 5
Apache Patriot, 1992 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 6
Taos Drum Talk, 1989 Acrylic on canvas, 72" x 60" 7
Pueblo Corn Dancer, 1994 Acrylic on canvas, 72" x 60" 8
Hopi Girl Dressing Little Brother's Hair, 1990 Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" 9
Navajo Sand Painter, 1991 Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" 10
Wild Horse, 1988 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 11
Hoop Dancer, 1984 Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" 12
Kiowa Apache, 2008 Acrylic on canvas, 40" x 44" 13
Plains Observer (Sand Painting), 1991 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 14
Shrouded Indian, 1985 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 15
Church at Cabezon Peak, 1992 Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" 16
Offering to the Great Spirit, 1990 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 17
Southwest Buffalo Dancers, 1984 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 18
Buffalo Medicine, 1988 Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" 19
Jack Red Cloud, 1994 Acrylic on canvas, 44" x 40" 20
Tu - Uqti Hopi Dancer, 1985 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" 21
Offering to the Great Spirit, 1999 Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" 22
JOHN NIETO (1936-2018) SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2022 2021 2020
2014
2012 2009
2008
1996
Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
The Southwestern Art Collection of
Le Salon Des Nations a Paris, Centre
Four Decades, LewAllen Galleries,
Charles & Jeanette Gilchrist White,
International D’Art Contemporain, Paris,
Santa Fe, NM
Lakeview Museum of Arts & Sciences,
France
The Legacy Paintings, LewAllen Galleries,
Peoria, IL
20th Century American Indian Artists,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Hot
Kimball Art Center, Park City, UT
Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Springs, AR
Native American Works, Pensacola
(also 1987-2018)
Booth Western Art Museum,
Altamira Fine Art, Scottsdale, AZ
Cartersville, GA
Altamira Fine Art, Jackson Hole, WY
Small Works Show, Ventana Fine Art,
(also 2009-2013) Nieto Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2007
2005
Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK
Jackson Hole Museum, Jackson Hole, WY
1961
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX
NM
Small Works Show, Ventana Fine Art,
SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Santa Fe, NM
Arts and Science Museum, Statesville, NC
The Blanton Museum of Art at the
Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody, WY
Mountain Trails Gallery, Jackson Hole,
2002
Capital Art Foundation, Santa Fe, NM
Capital Art Foundation, Santa Fe, NM
(also 1995-2001)
New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts,
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO,
J. Cacciola Gallery, New York, NY
Santa Fe, NM
Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY
Walk In Beauty, Native American
Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, NM
Invitational Exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
Jackson Hole Museum, Jackson Hole, WY
Art of Albuquerque, Museum of
Marine Corps Museum, Washington, DC
Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM
Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
The Art of the Native American,
Museum and Art Center, Sylacauga, AL
Enthios Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Owensboro Museum of Fine Art,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Hot Springs, AR
(also 1980-1985)
Owensboro, KY
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY
Nabisco Show, Nabisco Corporate
New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Headquarters, NJ
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Marine Corps Museum, Washington, DC
The Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX
Contemporary Native American, The
The Discovery Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Adagio, Palm Springs, CA
2001
1992 1990
University of Utah, Salt Lake City
John Nieto: Retrospective, Wheelwright
1985
1984
Governor’s Gallery, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM
1983
Savage Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ (also 1980 and 1981)
1989
1979
Museum, Cartersville, GA
Museum of Indian Art, Santa Fe, NM
1982
Santa Fe, NM
Contemporary Visions of the West: The
Museum, Salt Lake City, UT
1983
Gallup Inter-tribal Ceremonials, Gallup,
Art of John Nieto, Booth Western Art
Southwest Studies at SMU, Dallas, TX
1985
Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL 1980
Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
William Y. Clements Center for
1986
Salon d’Automne, Grand Palais, Paris, France
(also 1983-1995)
1993
1981
Forces of Color and Spirit, LewAllen
WY (also 2006 and 2007) 2002
25th Anniversary All Artists Show, Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe, NM 2019
2008
Axis Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1982
Santa Fe Festival of the Arts Window Exhibit, Lord and Taylor, New York City, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
2012
Art in Embassies Program, Port Luis,
American Indian Contemporary Art,
Mauritius
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Gallery of
Night of the First Americans, John F.
Western Art, Cody, WY
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
2011
Nieto Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
Washington, DC
2010
Nieto Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
United States Embassy and the United
2009
6th Annual Southeastern Cowboy
States International Communications
Gathering (John Nieto featured artist),
Agency, Barbados
Booth Western Art Museum,
Cabo Frio International Print Biennial,
Cartersville, GA
Cabo, Brazil
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John Nieto John Nieto is a leading figure in American contemporary art, celebrated for his emotionally resonant paintings of Western and Indigenous subjects that he rendered in heightened, expressive color. Inspired by his New Mexican and Native American roots, Nieto painted a wide range of figures from Southwestern culture and lore—both contemporary and historical—with an intensely fauvist palette and powerful brushwork. Known as a brilliant colorist, Nieto conveyed his images of Indigenous and Hispanic leaders, artists, craftspeople, dancers, and wildlife using vivid, powerful hues that express the artist’s intention that these figures be worthy of honor by all.
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Photo Courtesy of the Estate of John Nieto
Railyard Arts District | 1613 Paseo de Peralta | Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 | 505.988.3250 www.lewallengalleries.com | contact@lewallengalleries.com © 2022 LewAllen Contemporary, LLC Artwork © Estate of John Nieto