Narciso Abeyta, Ha So De (Navajo for “Ascending”), was known for his Indian-themed paintings, which, stylistically, are atypical of most of the Indian art of his generation. Abeyta attended the Santa Fe Indian School and the University of New Mexico. He also participated in exhibitions throughout the United States and in Paris. He won awards at the San Francisco Fair and at the New Mexico State Fair.

Abeyta regularly utilized a “somber” color palette as Clara Lee Tanner refers to it in her book Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art. She states that he tended towards blacks, browns, burnt ochre and reds. Tanner also notes that Abeyta was more interested in “bold effects than in minute detail.”

That boldness Tanner refers to is evident in this painting, but the colors she said he prefers must have changed over the years. This 1980s painting was executed in hues of red, green, yellow—typical colors of the fall season which is the depiction in this painting. The Navajo woman is gathering corn pollen as can be seen in the basket resting on the ground at the foot of the corn stalks.

Condition: The painting appears to be in original excellent condition although it has not been examined out of the frame. It is signed in the lower center.

Provenance: Betty and Marvin Rubin Collection