Romando Vigil (Tse-Ye-Mu)

After he had been painting for many decades, Vigil moved to San Bernardino, California in the 1950s and began working as an illustrator and animator. While working for Disney, some claim that he created sketches for the animated film Bambi, although this information is disputed as the film debuted before his time at Disney in 1942. Vigil was employed by Walt Disney Studios located in Hollywood, California briefly in the early 1950s and again in the 1960s and 70s. His work at Disney might have affected the style of his works. Many of his paintings from this stage in his career are more animated in comparison to his earlier works, particularly his paintings of dancing figures. Moreover, he began painting his figures with disproportionately sized heads, large eyes, and bulky feet. His paintings became more cartoonish owing to these characteristics. Author of Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art, Clara Lee Tanner, described his animals not being proportionate in size in most of his paintings.

In the mid-to-late 1950s, Vigil went on two European tours sponsored by the University of Oklahoma. During these tours, he likely saw artworks of European artists, which also might have influenced his later works.

In 1933 he was commissioned by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to paint a mural for the "Exposition of Indian Tribal Arts," which opened in New York City in 1931. This was the first major exhibition of American Indian Art that traveled across the United States.

He was schooled as a young boy at the government-run Santa Fe Indian School, where he learned painting from his teacher Elizabeth Robbins. His early painting career began around 1918 when he began painting Pueblo ceremonial dances and figures in his signature stylized manner. His early career is also characterized by his precise coloring on paper.

Romando Vigil, also known as Tse Ye Mu (January 23, 1902 – 1978) was a Native American self-taught painter and a leader in the San Ildefonso school. He briefly worked for Walt Disney Studios as a painter and illustrator in the 1950s.

Romando Vigil was born in San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, on 23 January 1902 on the pueblo’s Feast Day. Vigil’s Tewa name Tse-Ye-Mu translates as Falling Water or Falling Cloud. He was the cousin of painter Tonita Peña. His family on both his maternal and paternal sides were potters, and he married into the Martinez family who were renowned San Ildefonso potters.

He was the husband of potter Juanita Montoya Vigil (1898–1933), who was the youngest sister of renowned potter, Maria Martinez (1887-1980). Vigil was also the father of two children that were potters, Carmelita Dunlap and Albert Vigil.