Awa Tsireh (Alfonso Roybal) (San Ildefonso), Pair of Skunks Beneath a Rainbow, 20th century. Watercolor on paper; 10¾ x 13⅞ in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of Anne Evans and Mary Kent Wallace, 1932.214

height: 10 3/4 in, 27.305 cm; width: 14 in, 35.56 cm; mat height: 14 1/4 in, 36.195 cm; mat width: 19 1/4 in, 48.895 cm

"Awa Tsireh," bottom right Pencil inscription on verso.

Native Arts

Indigenous Arts of North America

Awa Tsireh, also known as Alfonso Roybal, was one of the most influential San Ildefonso painters in the 20th century. He is known for his use of vibrant colors and precision in his painting, both of which are evident in Pair of Skunks Beneath a Rainbow. In many of his paintings on paper, Awa Tsireh separated elements of the earth and sky by a rainbow. Note the skunks, which are creatures that live on earth, under the rainbow. The clouds and sun, which reside in the sky, are painted above the rainbow.

Gifted 1932 by Anne Evans and Mary Kent Wallace to the Denver Art Museum