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Harry Fonseca

Artist Info
Image of Harry Fonseca
Harry FonsecaNisenan Maidu / Portuguese / Hawaiian, 1946 - 2006

Fonseca was born in Sacramento, California, and at the age of eleven, he knew he was an artist. He attended Sacramento City College before studying art under Frank LaPeña (Wintu-Nomtipom/Tenai) at California State University—Sacramento. Ultimately, he decided to leave school to pursue his art, his own way. His early paintings were influenced by his Maidu ancestry, depicting traditional basket patterns and dance regalia motifs, and later, scenes from Maidu origin stories and southwestern ancient petroglyph symbols. In 1979, Fonseca began a series for which he is perhaps most renowned, his Coyote series. He placed Coyote in urban settings in non-Native clothing as if to infer that the lives and positions of Native Americans had transformed as much as the Trickster’s had. In 1980, he was granted a fellowship from the Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs, and in 2004, he was bestowed with the Alan Houser Memorial Award.

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Autumn Sonata #26
Harry Fonseca
2002
Autumn Sonata #XXII
Harry Fonseca
September 2002
Bedroom Window
Harry Fonseca
2005
Bowl
Harry Fonseca
1997
Coyote
Harry Fonseca
2002
Coyote and Snow
Harry Fonseca
1979
Coyote Koshare with Melon
Harry Fonseca
1983
Coyote's Ark
Harry Fonseca
1982
Dance Land #2
Harry Fonseca
ca. 1980
Dialogue with a Deer
Harry Fonseca
1995
Gold & Souls #21
Harry Fonseca
1992
The Harvest
Harry Fonseca
1980
Icarus Sketch #1
Harry Fonseca
2000
Icarus with Wings Closed
Harry Fonseca
2000
Maidu Dancers
Harry Fonseca
1979
Moon Dance
Harry Fonseca
1980
Old Man Coyote Dancing
Harry Fonseca
2005
Red, Black and Blue
Harry Fonseca
2004
Right of Spring #11
Harry Fonseca
2003
Right to Spring
Harry Fonseca
2003
Right to Spring
Harry Fonseca
2003
Rose
Harry Fonseca
2002
Rose on the Half Shell II
Harry Fonseca
1988
Saint Coyote #II
Harry Fonseca
1988
Spring
Harry Fonseca
2003
Spring #1
Harry Fonseca
2006
Stone Poem
Harry Fonseca
Two Coyotes
Harry Fonseca
Untitled
Harry Fonseca
2003
Variation on Wine Country
Harry Fonseca
2003
Watercolor
Harry Fonseca
1997
Watercolor
Harry Fonseca
1983
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Museum Info

Monday – Saturday:
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday:
Noon – 5 p.m.

500 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204