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Plains warriors documented this practice in the late 19th century when they began to draw images of their war exploits on paper. This sculpture was one of 250 included in Santa Fe’s Painted Ponies art event in 2001.
ProvenanceTrail of Painted Ponies, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyThe Trail of Painted Ponies. Santa Fe, New Mexico: HorsePower, 2001, p.18, p.88 and p.96.
Featured as one of a collection of 30 The Trail of Painted Ponies postcards.
"Tenth Anniversary of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 1995-2005" in Heritage magazine, 2005, vol 20. pg. 59.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 139.
Artist
Dyanne Strongbow
(b. 1951, Choctaw)
Lightning Bolt Colt
Date2000
DimensionsOverall (With base): 64 × 17 1/2 × 82 in. (162.6 × 44.5 × 208.3 cm)
Object numberT0798
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
See non-exclusive Copyright Agreement on file with the museum registrar and the rights and reproduction office.
Label TextJagged white lightning bolts blaze across dark storm-laden skies on Dyanne Strongbow’s Lightning Bolt Colt, with lightning bolts running down each of the colt’s legs. The artist was likely inspired by the work of 19th-century Plains Indian warriors who painted lightning bolts on their war horses’ legs to symbolize power and strength. Plains warriors documented this practice in the late 19th century when they began to draw images of their war exploits on paper. This sculpture was one of 250 included in Santa Fe’s Painted Ponies art event in 2001.
ProvenanceTrail of Painted Ponies, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyThe Trail of Painted Ponies. Santa Fe, New Mexico: HorsePower, 2001, p.18, p.88 and p.96.
Featured as one of a collection of 30 The Trail of Painted Ponies postcards.
"Tenth Anniversary of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 1995-2005" in Heritage magazine, 2005, vol 20. pg. 59.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 139.
On View
Not on viewc. 1820-1840
c. 1780
