AFA Summer 2020

2020 Antiques & Fine Art 81 1. Valerie Ann Leeds, Robert Henri in Santa Fe: His Work and Influence , exhibition catalogue (Santa Fe: Gerald Peters Gallery, 1998). 2. Patricia Trenton, Picturesque Images from Taos and Santa Fe , exhibition cat. (Denver: Denver Art Museum, 1974), 42. Laura Finlay Smith is curator of the Tia Collection, a private art collection of about 3,000 works, based in Santa Fe, N. Mex. Tia was started in 2007 with a mission to support museums through loans of art specific to exhibitions as well as access to the collection for curators to create exhibitions of their own inspiration. The collection spans from French Impressionism to Post War/Modern and Contemporary art and is currently working with about 50 museums around the world. MaLin Wilson-Powell is an art historian, author, and independent curator based in Santa Fe, N. Mex., who has written, taught, and lectured widely on American Modernism and contemporary art. All works of art are from Tia Collection, Santa Fe, NM. Of all the animals that Pueblo dancers embody, the deer, with its delicate precision, is mimicked perhaps most uncannily. Deer are sacred animals to many of the pueblos in New Mexico and are either believed to sacrifice themselves to feed the people or are considered caretakers of the earth. In addition, they often play a role in creation mythology. Deer songs and deer dances are common throughout the region, with the deer frequently serving as a symbol of the people. Agnes Sims drew inspiration from the Galisteo Basin, south of Santa Fe, an area dotted with the ruins of prehistoric Indian Pueblos, and home to tens of thousands of ancient petroglyphs. The rock art captivated Sims and became her primary inspiration for the rest of her career. These abstracted wood (pine) sculptures capture the cautious vigilance of deer in the wild and were created the same year she packed up her Philadelphia life and moved permanently to Santa Fe.  Agnes Sims (American, 1910–1990), Deer Dancers, ca. 1938. Wood (pine). H. 19¾, W. 4½, D. 16 in. / H. 21½, W. 5½, D. 13¾ in.