Diné (Navajo) Painting of Two Squirrels amidst Acorns and Leaves [SOLD]

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Beatien Yazz, Navajo Nation Painter

Special Offer: The owner has authorized us to reduce the price of this original painting from $495.00 to a new price of $275.00, a 45% price reduction.

A mostly self-taught artist, Beatien Yazz was born in 1928 and is one of the last two living students of Dorothy Dunn of the Santa Fe Indian School. As a boy on the Navajo Reservation, Yazz acquired an appreciation for the wildlife that roamed free and far with little contact with humans. This helped Yazz develop his sharp ability for capturing scenes in nature in his mind's eye and bringing them to his work.

This painting, which depicts two playful squirrels foraging for acorns among the leaves, is a perfect example of Yazz’s work at the height of his career.

Originally, Yazz’s paintings did not include backgrounds, but later he began to incorporate those—lines and hills. We know from Clara Lee Tanner’s bookSouthwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art that the younger artist Robert Chee revamped his style to include the same elements later in his career. For the Yazz-phile, have a look at one of our Robert Chee acquisitions (see item # C2989A), which seems to be almost stylistically comparable. Perhaps Yazz, who was 13 years Chee’s senior, had an influence on him!

Condition: The painting is in original excellent condition except for minor water mark at top that could be easily matted out. It has never been framed and is currently shrink-wrapped for protection. It is signed in lower right.

Provenance: From the collection of the family of Balcomb’s Ranch Gallery, Colorado.

Beatien Yazz, Navajo Nation Painter
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