Untitled Diné (Navajo) Painting of Buffalo Run [SOLD]

Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie (1916-2000) attended the Government Indian School at Fort Apache on the Apache Reservation, where he finished his elementary education. It was here that people first became aware of his talent for painting.

Afterwards, he ran away to his home reservation in the Navajo nation. Then he went on to Santa Fe, where he attended the Indian School and graduated in 1936. Tsihnahjinnie then served as an illustrator for the Indian Service in Window Rock, Arizona.

Andy Tsihnahjinnie, as he was commonly known, spent three and-a-half years in the Marine Corps in Asia, including Japan. Clara Lee Tanner states in her book Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art“Although this may not have affected him directly, certainly some of his postwar paintings have a decided Asian flavor.” (Clara Lee Tanner, 1957). It should also be noted that the artist changed styles many times throughout his lifetime. Of particular interest to Tsihnahjinnie were horses and he painted them in many varieties during his career.

This painting by Tsihnahjinnie depicts the frenzy of a buffalo stampede as an Indian hunter rides on horseback alongside them. The tone is decidedly dark and the color usage is rich and bold.

Condition: The painting appears to be in original excellent condition. It is matted and framed in a simple gold aluminum frame. It is signed in lower right Tsihnahjinnie.

Provenance: ex. coll. California Indian painting collector.