Maria Martinez, also known as Marie or ‘Pond Lily’, was an artist that was world-renowned for her amazing pottery. After her birth in 1884, she lived in the San Ildefonso Pueblo in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. Martinez was a Native American of Tewa heritage. In Pueblo, pottery is seen as a communal and common activity and this is how Martinez picked this skill up. By the time she was an adult, she met her husband, Julian. While he worked as a janitor at the Museum of Santa Fe, he and Maria would study pieces of pottery within the glass cases. This gave the couple their inspiration for the several pieces they made together over the years, up until Julian’s death.
Martinez was known for her unique style, which was and still is, considered very different. In reality, she never painted her work. On most projects, they collaborated, with Julian
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Although he was mostly known for his painting skills on pottery, he also painted on paper. Artistic talent runs in the Martinez family, because not only are Julian and Maria artists, but their son, named Popovi Da. Julian was recognized for his art multiple times by museums and schools such as Santa Fe Indian School and Mesa Verde National Park. On top of this, he was also elected governor of San Ildefonso and was a patriarch of one of the most important Native American artisan families in America.
Maria and Julian Martinez’s work is honestly mind-boggling. While they’re not as famous as artists such as Van Gogh, they’re just as good. I believe lesser-known artists, especially non-white ones, deserve more recognition. Most popular artists aren’t women or non-white, so I believe it’s important to uplift these artists, whether they were from decades ago or from this year. What this Native American couple is astonishing. They took a not-so-popular art form, and turned it into something so beautiful that it gained attention from all over the