Rare Navajo Folk Art Carving of Diné Man by Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie [SOLD]

This wonderful Navajo folk art carving of a Diné man was made by none other than Andy Tsihnahjinnie.  The artist, as Native art collectors know, was an influential and successful Diné painter. We were not aware of his wood carvings until this one made its way to the gallery.  We were delighted to see it and to discover that a very similar piece exists in the permanent collection of The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Their piece is much like this one, but female instead of male. It’s nearly identical in size, similarly painted, and depicted in the same position as the male figure. 

The Smithsonian assigns its Tsihnahjinnie carving a date of circa 1926.  Because of the strong similarities between theirs and this one, we assume this one to have been made around the same time.  Tsihnajinnie was born in 1916, which means that if the Smithsonian’s date is accurate, the artist made this piece when he was just a child.  The signature on the bottom of the base looks much like those which are seen on his paintings. This is a wonderfully unique piece from a significant Diné artist.

Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie (1916 - 2000) was a Diné painter who was born near Chinle, Arizona. He attended elementary school at the Indian School at Fort Apache, but ran away and returned to the reservation. He then attended school in Santa Fe and became a student of Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School. He was an excellent student and was known to have stayed in the studio painting until forced to return to the dormitory. Following his graduation he went to work as an illustrator for the Indian Service.  Tsihnahjinnie’s works are included in many prominent public and private collections, and are published in most of the major texts which relate to Native painting. Tsihnahjinnie passed away in 2000.

Condition: this Navajo Folk Art Carving of Diné Man by Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie is in excellent condition

Provenance: private New Mexico collection

Recommended Reading: NAVAJO FOLK ART by Chuck and Jan Rosenak