Red Robin's beginning is mysterious. We do know he was born, Onesimo Quintana, but where and when seem to be elusive. He was born sometime between 1909 and 1913 although the 1910 census says he was of '0' age. He either was born in Rhema, New Mexico according to the Social Security Application records, and was considered North American Native on that record as well. Other sources claim his birth location to be Las Vegas, New Mexico and in the biographical notes from his one man show at McBeth Gallery, NYC 1944 it claims he was born, "in a little Zuni hill village, looking down on Gallup, New Mexico." It also states that his mother died in giving birth to him and as was the tribal custom, he was adopted by the tribe, noting that "he was welcome in every cabin, to eat or sleep where he wished, the little friend of all his world."
It is not clear when he became known as Red Robin, although on the Social Security Application and Claims Index, he is listed with three names (1975, 1988 and 1991), all alliterations of Onesimo Robin with no mention of Red. On his marriage certificate in 1961 his name is recorded as Anthony Red Robin.
He was working as a goatherd by four and at fourteen, a lumberman in Arizona before coming to Denver in 1930 where he met and began working for Frederic Douglas, curator of the Indian Art Department at the Denver Art Museum. At that time, the Denver Art Museum was housed at the Chappell House along with the Denver University Art Department each sharing the first and second floors and Frederic Douglas had the run of the basement with his extensive collection of Native American Art. Douglas hired Red Robin under the WPA (Colorado Federal Art Project of Works Progress Administration) and he stayed with Douglas for about 10 years cataloguing his Native American material. It is worth noting that Douglas was one of the first curators and scholars to recognize Native American material for its artist quality and was responsible along with Anne Evans to have Native American material included in a Fine Art Museum setting rather than a History Museum for the first time in American history. As well as working for Douglas, Red Robin also worked as an artist's model, and studied voice, business, English and mathematics. He was well known for his beautiful baritone voice, but it was his belief that by educating himself, he would be able to meet the 'white man' on common ground. It was here with the confluence of the Denver Art Museum, Denver University Art Department and the Native Art Department that his art career really took form. He studied the work of Mae de Ville who had perfected a technique for permanent sand painting. After watching her work, he adapted the technique for himself. He created eight works of the Navajo Ceremonial Paintings for Douglas and the Denver Art Museum. Not only did he win awards for his sand paintings, in 1936 and 1937 he exhibited at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, as well as MoMA in NYC in 1938.
Once he moved to New York City in 1940 he found himself working for the Museum of Natural History in the Education Department for Indian Life and Arts. He also lectured at various institutions as well as on the radio. He continued to create his art and ultimately landed two One Man shows at the prestigious Macbeth Gallery on 57th Street. Macbeth Gallery, established in 1892, and was the first gallery at that time to deal solely in American Art. In 1908 they had the well-known exhibition titled, " The Eight" featuring Arthur Davies, William Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, Everett Shinn, and John Sloan. This was the gallery in New York and Red Robin had been invited to do two solo shows there. It was the first time Macbeth Gallery had presented a Native American Artist. It was quite a coup.
In 1942, Red Robin's military career began as he was inducted into the Engineer's Corps of the Army. He was in the Intelligence Unit of the 4th Infantry Division. He survived D-Day, as he was in the fourth wave landing on Utah Beach, but two weeks later he was shot and critically wounded. He had to spend two years recovering in the hospital. Ultimately, he was awarded with various combat awards including a Bronze Star with Valor and a Purple Heart.
After working in the fashion industry, he returned to the west, specifically Harris, Texas. He married for the second time, had two sons and worked at the Houston Museum of fine Art. He retired in 1978 to Velarde, New Mexico and died in 1991. He is buried in the Santa Fe National Cemetery. His work is part of the permanent collection of numerous museums including the Smithsonian.

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