Beatien Yazz Paintings from his Peyote Period [SOLD]

Beatien Yazz (1928-2013) Little No Shirt - Jimmy Toddy was working with the Navajo Police when he first heard about the “peyote religion” and took the opportunity to go to a meeting of the group.  He studied the people and what they were doing for quite a long time, going to several meetings, when he finally decided to try the “medicine.”  His first exposure was to peyote mixed in a tea form.  He said it was bitter.  He just sat and watched to see what would happen.  He stated “The drum was going on and the singing all that night until the dawn, before the sun rose.  You kind of got what they call ‘feeling high’ and ‘getting vision.’ I began to think about what was good for me and what was not good for me, but mostly I saw what was good for me.” Wagner and Brody 1983

Apparently Yazz joined the Peyote Church and continued with them for several years and that is the period when he painted his Peyote paintings, such as this one.  This, and others, during this period generally showed a peyote fan, a peyote bud, and the peyote bird.  It is doubtful that he painted such paintings under the influence of peyote but did so under the influence of the peyote religion.  This painting was rendered in a beautiful array of colors and the detail of each item is exceptional.

Condition:  appears in original condition but has not been examined out of the frame

Provenance: from the personal collection of a gentleman from Colorado

Recommended Reading:  Yazz: Navajo Painter by Wagner and Brody