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.”
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.”
Wolf Robe (Cheyenne), 1992
Acrylic on canvas, 30" x 24" $14,000 SOLD
Crow at Pow-Wow, 1989 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" $55,000
Apache Patriot, 1992 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" $55,000
Taos
Pueblo Corn Dancer, 1994 Acrylic on canvas, 72" x 60" $88,000.
Navajo Sand Painter,
Hoop Dancer, 1984
Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" $55,000 SOLD
Kiowa
Acrylic
Plains
Shrouded Indian,
Church at Cabezon Peak, 1992 Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" $55,000
Southwest Buffalo Dancers, 1984 Acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48" $55,000
Buffalo
Jack Red Cloud, 1994 Acrylic on canvas, 44" x 40" $36,000
Offering to the Great Spirit, 1999 Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60" $55,000
2022 Forces of Color and Spirit, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2021 Four Decades, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2020 The Legacy Paintings, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2019 Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM (also 1987-2018)
2014 Altamira Fine Art, Scottsdale, AZ
Altamira Fine Art, Jackson Hole, WY (also 2009-2013)
2012 Nieto Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2009 Contemporary Visions of the West: The Art of John Nieto, Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA
2008 Mountain Trails Gallery, Jackson Hole, WY (also 2006 and 2007)
2002 Adagio, Palm Springs, CA (also 1995-2001)
1996 J. Cacciola Gallery, New York, NY (also 1983-1995)
William Y. Clements Center for Southwest Studies at SMU, Dallas, TX
1993 University of Utah, Salt Lake City Museum, Salt Lake City, UT
1986 Enthios Gallery, Santa Fe, NM (also 1980-1985)
1985 John Nieto: Retrospective, Wheelwright Museum of Indian Art, Santa Fe, NM
1983 Governor’s Gallery, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM
1982 Savage Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ (also 1980 and 1981)
1989 Axis Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2012 Art in Embassies Program, Port Luis, Mauritius
Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Cody, WY
2011 Nieto Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2010 Nieto Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2009 6th Annual Southeastern Cowboy Gathering (John Nieto featured artist),
Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA
2008 25th Anniversary All Artists Show, Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
The Southwestern Art Collection of Charles & Jeanette Gilchrist White, Lakeview Museum of Arts & Sciences, Peoria, IL
2007 Museum of Contemporary Art, Hot Springs, AR
Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA
Small Works Show, Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2005 Jackson Hole Museum, Jackson Hole, WY
Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Small Works Show, Ventana Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2002 The Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 2001 Capital Art Foundation, Santa Fe, NM New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
1992 Walk In Beauty, Native American Invitational Exhibition, Santa Fe, NM
1990 Art of Albuquerque, Museum of Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM
1985 The Art of the Native American, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, KY
1984 Nabisco Show, Nabisco Corporate Headquarters, NJ Marine Corps Museum, Washington, DC
1983 Contemporary Native American, The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ 1982 Santa Fe Festival of the Arts Window Exhibit, Lord and Taylor, New York City, NY
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO American Indian Contemporary Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Night of the First Americans, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC United States Embassy and the United States International Communications Agency, Barbados
Cabo Frio International Print Biennial, Cabo, Brazil
1981 Salon d’Automne, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Le Salon Des Nations a Paris, Centre
International D’Art Contemporain, Paris, France
20th Century American Indian Artists, Kimball Art Center, Park City, UT
Native American Works, Pensacola
Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL
1980 Gallup Inter-tribal Ceremonials, Gallup, NM
1979 Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK
1961 Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX
Arts and Science Museum, Statesville, NC
Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA
Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody, WY
Capital Art Foundation, Santa Fe, NM
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, NM
Jackson Hole Museum, Jackson Hole, WY
Marine Corps Museum, Washington, DC
Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ Museum and Art Center, Sylacauga, AL Museum of Contemporary Art, Hot Springs, AR
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY
New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
The Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX
The Discovery Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL
The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
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.
Photo Courtesy of the Estate of John Nieto
