Picuris Pueblo c. 1952

Loraine Moore made this print of Picuris Pueblo sometime in the mid-20th century. The print shows the Pueblo under a night sky with a cloud, which may reference the history of the Pueblo's resistance to attempts to extinguish the traditional religious practices of its people. Moore depicts the Pueblo using simple shapes and earth tones. The crosses above the buildings are markers of the enforced history of Christianity in this region, but the ladders and adobe construction also indicate the persistence of traditional ways of life. Moore’s work belongs to a genre of images of the American Southwest that valorize a simple way of life rooted in the land. To understand this image better, one could research the artist's biography, the history of the Pueblo, and the cultural context in which the image was made. As historians, it is important to understand the role of art in the creation and maintenance of cultural identity and the complex social, economic, and political factors that shape its production and reception.