Ralph Roybal
- BORN
-
November 15, 1916
San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico
- DIED
-
July 7, 2000
- EDUCATION
-
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, Missouri
Ralph Roybal was born into a family of San Ildefonso Pueblo artists in 1916. He attended St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, and was one of two Pueblo students in their Glee Club in 1936.
Ralph is particularly well known for his painting, likely inspired by his artistic family. His brother, Alfonso Roybal, better known as Awa Tsireh, was a renowned painter and jewelry maker, who Ralph joined in Colorado for a time. His sister, Santana Roybal Martinez, worked closely with her mother-in-law, Maria Poveka Montoya Martinez, shaping, painting and firing pottery.
Ralph Roybal enjoyed oil and watercolor painting and often signed his work as Ma Wholo Peen.
Note
While Ralph Roybal is not particularly well known, but his family included many accomplished artists: his uncle, Cresencio Martinez; his aunt, Tonita Roybal; his grandmother, Donimguita Martinez; siblings Awa Tsireh and Santana Roybal Martinez; and extended family, including Maria Poveka Montoya Martinez, Julian Martinez and Disaderia Sanchez.
Other name variations: Rafael Roybal, Rafael Roibal, Rafael Roybol
Tribal Affiliation: San Ildefonso Pueblo
Ancestral Affiliation: No Ancestral Affiliation with Missouri – Artistic Practice in Missouri
Locations of Practice: San Ildefonso Pueblo, NM; Denver, CO
For more information on Native peoples in the Missouri region, please visit Native American Art in Missouri: A Brief Historical Context.
Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market
Organized by Heard Museum
Organized by Heard Museum
Award, Scottsdale National Indian Art Exhibition
Awards & Exhibitions 2
Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market
Organized by Heard Museum
Organized by Heard Museum
Award, Scottsdale National Indian Art Exhibition
References
Artist clippings file is available at:
"Ralph Roybal: artist file." Spencer Art Reference Library, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
Bibliography
Select Sources
U.S. Census Bureau, “Northern Pueblo Census 1925: Rafael Roybal,” U.S. Indian Census Rolls 1885-1940, Ancestry, accessed July 19, 2024.
U.S. Census Bureau, “San Ildefonso, Santa Fe, New Mexico Census: Roybal Rafael,” 1930 United States Federal Census, Ancestry, accessed July 19, 2024.
Julie Ann Schrader, “The Morgan Collection of Southwest Pottery Website Research and Photography” (M.A. project, Wichita State University, 2002), 100-115.
“Santana Roybal Martinez,” Maria Martinez Pottery, accessed July 19, 2024, http://www.mariajulianpottery.com/san-ildefonso/santana-roybal-martinez/.
Saint Louis University, “The Archive: Saint Louis University Yearbook,” Saint Louis University (1936), 168.
Pat Messier and Kim Messier, Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry: Artists, Traders, Guilds, and the Government (Atglen: Schiffer Publishing, 2014), 88-91.
“Glee Club Recital at Webster Tonight: Chorus of 35 From St. Louis University to Present Program,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 20, 1936, 21.
“Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators,” King Galleries, accessed July 19, 2024, https://kinggalleries.com/early-san-ildefonso-pottery-innovators/.
“Biographical Questionnaire: Roybal, Rafael,” New Mexico U.S. World War II Records 1941-1945, Ancestry, accessed July 19, 2024.
Core Reference Sources
Patrick D. Lester, The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters (Tulsa: SIR Publications, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995). 477.
Image Credits
Artwork
Ralph Roybal (Ma-Wholo-Peen), Buffalo Dance, n.d.
Watercolor on paper, 11 1/8 x 9 1/8 in.
© Courtesy Santa Fe Art Auction
Contributors
Katie McClure, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Artist Record Published
Published on August 30, 2024
Learn more
References
Artist clippings file is available at:
"Ralph Roybal: artist file." Spencer Art Reference Library, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
Bibliography
Select Sources
U.S. Census Bureau, “Northern Pueblo Census 1925: Rafael Roybal,” U.S. Indian Census Rolls 1885-1940, Ancestry, accessed July 19, 2024.
U.S. Census Bureau, “San Ildefonso, Santa Fe, New Mexico Census: Roybal Rafael,” 1930 United States Federal Census, Ancestry, accessed July 19, 2024.
Julie Ann Schrader, “The Morgan Collection of Southwest Pottery Website Research and Photography” (M.A. project, Wichita State University, 2002), 100-115.
“Santana Roybal Martinez,” Maria Martinez Pottery, accessed July 19, 2024, http://www.mariajulianpottery.com/san-ildefonso/santana-roybal-martinez/.
Saint Louis University, “The Archive: Saint Louis University Yearbook,” Saint Louis University (1936), 168.
Pat Messier and Kim Messier, Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry: Artists, Traders, Guilds, and the Government (Atglen: Schiffer Publishing, 2014), 88-91.
“Glee Club Recital at Webster Tonight: Chorus of 35 From St. Louis University to Present Program,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, February 20, 1936, 21.
“Early San Ildefonso Pottery Innovators,” King Galleries, accessed July 19, 2024, https://kinggalleries.com/early-san-ildefonso-pottery-innovators/.
“Biographical Questionnaire: Roybal, Rafael,” New Mexico U.S. World War II Records 1941-1945, Ancestry, accessed July 19, 2024.
Core Reference Sources
Patrick D. Lester, The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters (Tulsa: SIR Publications, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995). 477.
Contributors
Katie McClure, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Artist Record Published
Published on August 30, 2024
Updated on None
