Bernardo Toaquiza (known to be active 1990-2004, Tigua region, central Ecuador)

Scene with Shaman (Curandero) Performing Purification (La Limpia) or Healing Ritual

acrylic on sheep skin; wooden stretcher and original painted frame

2001

Tigua, Ecuador

dimensions including frame: 20 x 24.5 cm

signed and dated: "Bernardo Toaquiza  06 / 01."

inscription in black ink on verso:

"TIGUA - ECUADOR"

"TEMA: EL SHAMAN está curando con el poder de la madre tierra, en el río."

["The shaman is healing with the power of mother earth, in the river."]

acquired in Ecuador by Jack Daulton in 2001

Bernardo Toaquiza is probably a relative of Julio Toaquiza, who is considered the originator of the Tigua style of painting, in the early 1970s.

References:

For other paintings by Bernardo Toaquiza, see: 

Jean Colvin and Alfredo Toaquiza, Pintores de Tigua: Indigenous Artists of Ecuador ([Washington, D.C.?] : Organization of American States; [Quito], Ecuador: FEDUC, [1990?]), ills. at pgs. 16 (top) and 19 (bottom), catalogue of an exhibition at the Organization of American States in Washington, DC, and at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Jean G. Colvin, Arte de Tigua: A Reflection of Indigenous Culture in Ecuador (Quito: Ediciones ABYA-YALA, 2004), ills. at pgs. 52 and 88 (top).