Dolona Roberts
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Fine Arts represents
Dolona Roberts
Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1936, Dolona Roberts is an internationally recognized painter celebrated for her vibrant interpretations of Pueblo life, Native identity, and geometric abstraction. Of Cherokee heritage, Roberts has spent more than six decades creating a distinctive visual language inspired by the traditions, ceremonies, and enduring presence of the Pueblo peoples of the American Southwest.
Roberts studied at the Colorado Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs from 1955 to 1957 before continuing her education at the University of New Mexico. There she studied with renowned artists including Elaine de Kooning, Randall Davey, Kenneth Adams, and Jozef Bakos, each contributing to the development of her expressive use of color and abstraction.
Her celebrated Blanket Series established Roberts as one of the Southwest’s most recognizable painters. Large canvases depicting Pueblo women viewed from behind became iconic for their flowing forms, richly patterned blankets, and radiant color palettes. These works transformed traditional Indigenous imagery into contemporary compositions that balance representation with abstraction.
Throughout her career Roberts continually expanded her artistic vocabulary. Her Tablita Vision series explored the ceremonial headdresses of Pueblo dancers through increasingly abstract forms and symbolic geometry. Later bodies of work introduced recurring serpent imagery, reflecting mythology, transformation, and spiritual continuity. Roberts described the serpent as “a perpetual mystery,” using flowing curves and luminous patterns to explore themes of transcendence and renewal.
Her paintings have been exhibited internationally throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States and are represented in numerous private and institutional collections.
Legacy
Grand Prix, Paris, France (1960)
Prize, Oklahoma Art Center (1961)
Prize, Arizona Art Exhibition (1974)
Artist of the Year, Santa Fe, New Mexico (1981)
Exhibition at the Grand Palais, Salon Noël, Paris
Honored Artist, The White House, Washington, D.C. (1985)
International exhibitions in Paris, Geneva, Berlin, Sydney, Basel, Heidelberg, and Walldorf
Gallery Calumet Exhibition, Heidelberg, Germany (1992)
SAP Art Exhibition, Walldorf, Germany (1999)
