Richard chavez jewelry santa fe

One of my longest standing relationships as an American Indian art dealer is with contemporary jeweler Richard Chavez.  Richard Chavez, from San Felipe Pueblo, creates pieces of jewelry that really are restrained compositions of modern art, perfectly attuned to form and color.

I first saw Richard Chavez’s work in 1976 at an artist cooperative at San Juan Pueblo.  I was so struck by his innovative jewelry that I went to my first Santa Fe Indian Market that summer with the sole purpose of finding Richard.

When I found him at market (he was participating in his first one that year too), I asked him to do a show in Chicago at my newly opened Indian Tree Gallery, and he agreed.  That November, Richard Chavez became the 2nd American Indian artist to do a show at my gallery, the first of several shows that Richard and I opened in Chicago.