Horses Chased by Wolves

Pop Chalee, an artist of Taos, New Mexico, was known for her paintings of mythological horses and the series Enchanted Forest. Her spirited panoramic mural of brightly colored ponies made her famous as an American painter and muralist, although she also earned a living as a performer and singer. Her artistic style influenced many of the animal figures that Walt Disney later portrayed in his films. Although Chalee’s style has been fully appropriated into American popular culture, reexamining the artist’s original goal—to foster an understanding of her people and environment through art—helps us to appreciate her works as particular cultural expressions of a deep respect for the natural landscape of, and human-animal relations in, the Taos Pueblo.