Fonseca (Harry) Business Files and Papers, 1966-2006

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Summary

Title:
Harry Fonseca Business Files and Papers
Subtitle:
1966-2006
Dates:
1966-2006
Creators:
Fonseca, Harry
Abstract:
Harry Fonseca (1946-2006) was an artist and illustrator of Nisenan-Maidu, Hawaiian, and Portuguese descent. He was a leading figure in the Native American arts movement and a prolific contemporary artist whose work has been shown at the National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, and the Autry Museum of the American West. Fonseca is best known for his Coyote series in which the traditional trickster from Native American folklore is brought to life in a modern setting. The Harry Fonseca Business Files and Papers contain business records, promotional materials, correspondence, and photographs related to Fonseca's artwork, studio practice, and exhibitions, and some personal papers. The majority of materials are from 1980 to 2006.
Extent:
17 Linear Feet 31 boxes (23 document boxes, 6 flat boxes, 2 small boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Harry Fonseca Business Files and Papers, 1966-2006, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.55; [folder number] [folder title][date].

Background

Scope and content:

The Harry Fonseca Business Files and Papers contain business records, correspondence, information about exhibitions, promotional materials, news clippings, artwork documentation, sketches, ephemera, research files, and photographs of Fonseca's artistic process, artwork, exhibitions, and travels. Photographic material includes prints, transparencies, slides, and negatives.

Biographical / historical:

Harry Fonseca (1946-2006) was a contemporary artist and illustrator of Nisenan-Maidu, Hawaiian, and Portuguese descent. He was the youngest of seven children, born to John Fonseca and Elsie Mary Adams, in Sacramento, California, on January 5, 1946.

Fonseca grew up in Bryte, California. He joined the United States Navy after attending Sacramento City College, then transferred to California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State) to study fine art. Fonseca studied under Frank LaPena (1937-2019), a prominent Nomtipom Wintu artist and then Director of Native American studies at Sacramento State. For one of his college assignments, Fonseca interviewed Henry Azbill, his uncle and a Maidu elder, about the Maidu creation story. Azbill became an important mentor to Fonseca and inspired Fonseca to explore and embrace his Nisenan-Maidu heritage. Fonseca became an enrolled member of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, a traditional dancer, and co-founder of the Maidu Dancers and Traditionalists, which was dedicated to reviving traditional Maidu ceremonies, stories, and songs.

Fonseca left Sacramento State before completing his degree so that he could pursue his art career. Fonseca was heavily influenced by the basketry designs, dance regalia, and traditional dances from his Maidu culture. In 1977, he created his first major work, Creation Story. The central focus in this work is on Helinmaiden, (the Maidu Big Man, Great Man, or God) as He appears to Turtle. Fonseca returned to this theme and painted several versions of the Maidu Creation Story throughout his career.

Fonseca is best known for his Coyote series. Beginning in 1979, Fonseca updated the story of Coyote, a traditional trickster and transformer from Native American mythology. The first painting in this series Coyote in the Mission, puts Coyote in a modern, urban environment wearing a leather jacket, high tops, and baggy jeans set against a brick wall. In later iterations, Coyote has a girlfriend, Rose, a female coyote also featured in Fonseca's Swan Lake series.

Fonseca moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1979. He moved back to California in 1985, first to Santa Barbara, then to the Shingle Springs Rancheria, and later Sacramento. In 1990, Fonseca moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to be a part of the indigenous art world that thrived in the city.

Fonseca's work took on a more political tone as he painted the Discovery of Gold and Souls in California series in 1992. In this series, he painted subtle variations of a black cross surrounded by gold leaf and splattered with red ochre. In interviews, he has stated that this series is a direct reference to the California Gold Rush and the devastation it brought to Native communities. He revisited this theme with The Discovery of Gold in California series exhibited at the Oakland Museum of California in 1998.

Some other notable series by Fonseca include: Stripes, St. Francis of Assisi, and Seasons. Fonseca's work has been featured in a myriad of exhibitions and institutions including the National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, and the Autry Museum of the American West. Fonseca received the Best of Show Award (1979) in the Indian Art Now exhibition at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, the Allan Houser Memorial Award (2005) and an Eiteljorg Museum Fellowship for Native American Fine Art (2005).

Harry Fonseca married Sue Ellen Fonseca and had a daughter, Sarah Fonseca. After Harry and Sue separated, Fonseca was in a long-term partnership with Harry Nungesser. Fonseca was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in August 2006 and passed away in December 2006 at the age of 60.

References:

"Fonseca, Harry (5 Jan 1946)." The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art, 1st ed., Oxford University Press, 2011.

"Harry Fonseca, Coyote Leaving The Rez," Gorman Museum of Native American Art, 12, May 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20251003194744/https://gormanmuseum.ucdavis.edu/collection-piece/harry-fonseca-coyote-leaving-rez

"Harry Fonseca Obituary," The Sacramento Bee, 13, January 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20251003195259/https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sacbee/name/harry-fonseca-obituary?id=9930368

Littlebird, Barbara. "Harry Fonseca." Artist Profile, Four Winds (Winter 1981): 8-15.

Phillips, Patsy. "Sundays with Harry: An Essay on a Contemporary Native Artist of Our Time." Wicazo Sa Review, Volume 27, Number 1, Spring 2012, pp. 63-72. http://doi.org/10.1353/wic.2012.0000

Scott, Amy. "Harry Fonseca (1946 – 2006)," The Unforgettables: Expanding the History of American Art, University of California Press, 2022.

Seban, Laurie. "Harry Fonseca: Maidu Creation Stories." Arts in Context, 6, July 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20250321003644/https://www.artsincontext.com/post/harry-fonseca-maidu-creation-stories

Coyote is a mythological character that appears in the folklore and oral histories of Native Americans from California, the Southwest, the Plains, and throughout the West. In these tales, Coyote can be both foolish or wise, a creative force, a trickster, lover, glutton, or magician. Stories of Coyote's exploits often upend expectations and social norms, demonstrate resilience, or tell a cautionary tale with humor.

Reference

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Coyote." Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20250223114739/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Coyote-mythology

Acquisition information:
Museum purchase, 2016.
Processing information:

Initial processing and inventory completed by Autry Museum staff. Additional physical processing and draft of finding aid completed by Danielle Mamaril, 2024 Getty Marrow Archives Intern. Further processing and final Finding Aid completed by Molly Smith, 2025.

Arrangement:

This collection has been arranged into 9 series:

  1. Biographical Materials
  2. Photographs
  3. Galleries and Museums
  4. Exhibitions
  5. Projects
  6. Artwork
  7. Business Records
  8. Correspondence
  9. Research Files

Whenever possible, original file titles were retained, including a majority of the files in the Artwork, Business Records, Correspondence, and Gallery and Museums series. Documents that were unfiled and files that were in no apparent order have been arranged into topical, alphabetical, or chronological order.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Molly Smith
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-11-07 21:21:01 +0000 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Restricted access: Some records are restricted due to privacy issues or cultural sensitivity.

In accordance with the Autry's institution wide Management of Native Collections policy, access to some of this collection is restricted due to culturally sensitive content. Requests for researcher access to materials identified as culturally sensitive may require letters of support from the affiliated Native nations and Indigenous communities.

Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Fonseca's original work has been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library and Archives at the Autry. Permission for publication of other materials in the collection is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred citation:

Harry Fonseca Business Files and Papers, 1966-2006, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.55; [folder number] [folder title][date].

Location of this collection:
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA 90027, US
Contact:
(747) 201-8448
rroom@theautry.org
Website