“Circular Splendor” by Helen Hardin [SOLD]

Helen Hardin (1943-1984) Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh (or “Little Standing Spruce”) was an innovative and influential painter from New Mexico’s Santa Clara Pueblo.  Hardin was born in 1943 to Santa Clara Pueblo painter Pablita Velarde and caucasian civil servant Herbert Hardin. Inspired by her mother, she began creating and selling paintings as a teenager.  She went in a different direction than her mother and her mother’s peers, creating more contemporary works that depicted Native American symbology with striking geometrical patterns and abstract imagery.

Hardin's distinctive and compelling style became more fully realized in the 1970s, with a series of paintings of Katsina figures. These and her later works are immensely complex works of art that have been displayed in museums around the world.   Her personal explorations led her into the deeply affecting works of the very well-known “Woman” Series. Much of her work is concerned with the intellectual and physical struggle of her very existence—the struggle of woman versus man, patron versus artist, Indian versus Anglo, tradition versus progression.  Her art is complex and beautiful, at once forward-thinking and firmly rooted in ancient tradition. Hardin was a truly intriguing woman and one of the preeminent American Indian painters of the twentieth century. She died of cancer in 1984, leaving behind her an astounding body of work for her many admirers to enjoy.

“Circular Splendor” is an exemplary Helen Hardin painting in that it is entirely unique but still immediately recognizable as having been created by the immensely skilled painter.  Its graceful blend of traditional pueblo imagery and the artist’s singular compositional style is its most endearing strength. Its use of repeating feather designs and what appears to be an eagle to compose an immersive, hypnotic circular image is truly impressive.  This is a complex image, executed with such confidence and style that it appears simple on first glance.

Hardin was known to make use of protractors, rulers, and French curves.  She called these implements her "gadgets," and she used them wisely and purposefully.  She painted with acrylic paints in layers, used atomizers to create textural variations, and applied varnishes over specific colors or layers to achieve a variety of effects on the surfaces of her paintings.  This careful attention to color and texture resulted in works that are deep and complex, rewarding the viewer who takes a closer look with qualities that are not visible from afar. This piece excels in that regard—its strong blacks and grays actually shimmer and sparkle when viewed up close, balancing the image’s darkness with a vibrant layer of light.  Hardin’s line work here is as close to perfect as one could expect of an image created using simple tools. This is the best sort of technical marvel—one that doesn’t feel excessive but instead feels like every choice was made in service of the composition as a whole. “Circular Splendor” is a beautiful, powerful image from one of the most exciting and significant figures in Native American art.

“Circular Splendor” remains in its original frame, in the style that Hardin preferred.  It is signed and dated 1978.

Condition: the painting "Circular Splendor" by Helen Hardin is in excellent condition

Provenance: from a New Mexico collection

Recommended Reading: Changing Woman: The Life and Art of Helen Hardin by Jay Scott

Photo of Helen Hardin (1943-1984) Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh - Little Standing Spruce. Image Source:  the photo copies (of original polaroid’s) of Helen Hardin appear courtesy of the photographer.