Harry Fonseca (1946-2006)

Chiaroscuro is pleased to represent the estate of the late Harry Fonseca. All works come directly from the estate, are in excellent condition, and represent a tight selection of important pieces from the 80's and 90's up until Fonseca's death in 2006. Chiaroscuro has access to the full estate and hand-picked its current inventory to represent an overall of what is available in paintings and drawings on paper and canvas. For more information please call the gallery directly at 505-992-0711.

Harry Fonseca (1946-2006) was born in Sacramento, California of Nisenan Maidu, Hawaiian, and Portuguese heritage. Recently, October 2014, the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis announced a large donation of Fonseca works, over 80, to its collection. The artwork is accompanied by volumes of photographs, cards and letters documenting Fonseca's legacy and relationship with donor Harry Nungesser.

In his long career as an exhibiting artist, Harry Fonseca's work went through a number of transformations, but the one constant was his openness to new influences and sources of inspiration. Fonseca began the Coyote Series in 1979. The subject of these works is Coyote, the trickster and transformer. Fonseca re-situated this cultural hero into contemporary settings, such as San Francisco's Mission District. Coyote appears as an updated and sneaker-wearing Rousseau, holding his palette on a Parisian quay ('Rousseau Revisited', 1986), or a headress-clad and sneakered ('Coyote in Front of Studio', 1983). Coyote became an alembic through which Fonseca filtered his vision of the artist and the Native American in society.

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