Helen Hardin, from the very beginning of her career, was at the cutting edge of Indian-influenced art. Her art, though obviously drawing on her Indian heritage and tradition, was very much in the mainstream of modern aesthetics.

Over a sprayed background of light color, Hardin fashioned her design of a Zuni heartline deer of dark brown with a turquoise heartline rendered in architectural precision in the Pueblo tradition. He stands on a ground plane of three parallel lines with stylized chamisa plants at the edges.

This is a truly wonderful work of delightfully intimate scale, in excellent condition, with original frame. The painting is signed in the image Tsa-sa-wee-eh with the artist's cartouche.

Provenance: From the estate of Richard M. Howard, a Santa Fe art collector, dealer, and enthusiastic pottery collector. The piece hung on the wall in his office opposite his desk where it was viewable while he sat at his desk. There is a tag on verso that reads FA 84. Perhaps he purchased this piece in 1984, but I am not sure of that.