Harrison Begay Untitled Painting of Young Diné Man [SOLD]

This original painting was created by influential Diné artist Harrison Begay.  The painting features a young Diné man travelling on foot through a patch of dry desert.  He is pictured in profile, which is typical of a piece in this style. Wavy lines of purple and pink represent the ground, and a pair of Yucca plants appear.  Other than these elements, the composition of the environment is left to the viewer’s imagination, which is also typical of a piece in this style.

Begay’s work with the young man is excellent.  He wears a spotted headband and carries a textile and rope.  The soft orange tone used for the man’s shirt is a delight, and the bright blue accents complement it perfectly.

Begay is known for crisp detail in his appealing figures, and this example is strong in that regard.  The painting’s signature—“H. Begay”, with no appearance of his native name—matches that which we’ve seen mostly on early-career pieces.  The man’s face looks similar to those which we’ve seen in earlier works, too, so this piece might fall within that category.  Whatever the case may be, it is a sweet and beautiful image.

The painting is signed in lower right.  It was recently reframed using high-quality materials, with matting in cream and orange and a simple wood frame with a dark stain.

Harrison Begay (1917-2012) Haskay Yahne Yah - The Wandering Boy was a world-renowned Diné (Navajo) painter who is generally regarded as one of the most successful and influential early Native American painters.  Begay studied under Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School in the 1930s, and then attended colleges in North Carolina and Arizona. From 1942 to 1945, he served in the US Army Signal Corps.  In 1947, Begay returned to the Navajo reservation, where he enjoyed a long and productive career as a painter. He is known to have continued painting into his 90s. Begay passed away in 2012, leaving behind a large body of work and a legacy in the world of Native art.

Condition: good condition with a few small discolorations

Provenance: this Harrison Begay Untitled Painting of Young Diné Man is from the personal collection of a resident of Tennessee 

Recommended Reading: The James T. Bialac Collection of Southwest Indian Paintings by Clara Lee Tanner

Relative Links: Navajo, Native American Paintings, Harrison Begay, Diné Artist of the Navajo Nation