Andy Tsihnahjinnie Painting of a Diné Card Game

This dynamic scene is a classic work by the renowned Diné (Navajo) artist Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie (1918-2000), often titled Gamblers or Card Game. 

It beautifully showcases Tsihnahjinnie's distinctive narrative style, blending traditional subject matter with the hallmark "Studio Style" techniques he developed early in his career, while still displaying his unique personal flair for movement and expressive character design.

The painting depicts a group of Navajo men and women gathered in an open, arid landscape, deeply absorbed in a card game played on a blanket. At the center, an elder with a feather in his headband serves as the focal point, intensely studying his hand. Around him, other players look on with focused, expressive faces — capturing the quiet tension and focus of the game. Coins or tokens are scattered in the center of the mat.

Several figures stand around the periphery, watching the game unfold. To the left, a donkey stands laden with a pack, and to the right, a saddled horse waits patiently, suggesting the players have traveled to this gathering place.

The horizon features stylized mesa formations beneath a brilliant, banded sky that moves from deep blue down to white. Tsihnahjinnie's signature stylized "popcorn" clouds, outlined with warm orange and gold highlights, frame the central figures and add a sense of radiating heat and atmosphere to the desert setting.

Tsihnahjinnie was a master of line and form, and this piece highlights several elements that made his work highly collectible. Having studied under Dorothy Dunn at The Studio of the Santa Fe Indian School in the 1930s, Tsihnahjinnie mastered the use of flat fields of color, minimal shading, and sharp, defined outlines.

Unlike some of his contemporaries whose work remained strictly static, Tsihnahjinnie was famous for infusing a sense of action and life. You can see this in the fine, flowing lines of the figures' hair, the naturalistic gestures of their hands holding the cards, and the subtle shifts in their postures.

The painting utilizes a beautiful balance of muted, earthy tones for the desert ground and clothing, contrasted sharply against the bright blue of the sky and the vivid turquoise and coral accents in the jewelry and blankets. It's a fantastic representation of mid-century Diné painting, capturing a slice of daily social life with both dignity and a touch of lighthearted realism.

Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie, born near Chinle, Arizona (Rough Rock) in November 1916, had been nurturing his artistic talent since childhood. His educational journey led him from the Indian School at Fort Apache to the Santa Fe Indian School, where he became a student of Dorothy Dunn. Known for his dedication, Tsihnahjinnie often remained in the studio painting until compelled to return to the dormitory. Post-graduation, he served as an illustrator for the Indian Service. Despite a serious illness in 1977 that limited his painting and teaching, Tsihnahjinnie maintained his passion for traditional ways. His upbringing, filled with experiences of herding sheep and riding horses, heavily influenced his artistic themes. Tsihnahjinnie, husband to Minnie McGirt and father to seven children, was the subject of a video by Kathy Flynn, Executive Director of the National New Deal Preservation Association and the New Mexico Chapter of the NNDPA, filmed on October 9th, 2000, shortly before his passing.

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: this Andy Tsihnahjinnie Painting of a Diné Card Game is from the collection of a client of Adobe Gallery

Recommended Reading: American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas by Dorothy Dunn, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1968. 

TAGS: TAGS: Navajo, Apache, Santa Fe, Dorothy Dunn, painting, Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie