PAIR Helen Hardin Painting and Helen Gachupin Pottery Jar

Artistic Interplay: Helen Hardin’s ‘Zia Jar’ and Its Real-world Counterpart by Helen Gachupin

"Zia Jar" is an original artwork by Santa Clara Pueblo artist Helen Hardin, completed in the late 1970s. The painting's inspiration stems from a Zia Pueblo pottery jar that Hardin encountered during a neighbor's visit. Captivated by its design, Hardin borrowed the jar, recreated its patterns in her painting, and returned the jar to its owner.

The painting made its way to the market, where a buyer, intrigued by the jar, managed to acquire it. Both the painting and the jar were later donated to the Wheelwright Museum and subsequently sold to a local collector. Now, the collector is downsizing and has decided to part with this pair of artworks.

The jar, signed by Zia artist Helen Gachupin, is included with the painting's purchase. It stands 6-1/2" tall, spans 7-1/2" wide, and is in excellent condition, save for a few pigment abrasions. While Hardin's paintings often feature pottery designs, this is the first instance where both a pottery-inspired painting and the actual jar that inspired it have been acquired.

Hardin's execution of this piece is exceptional. The painting, larger than her usual works, provides ample space for her creativity. The background shows a variety of orange and red tones, forming curved lines, tiny bubbles, and wild bursts. These hues intertwine to create a dense web of warm oranges, possibly symbolizing a blazing desert sun or the fire from which the pot emerged.

Hardin then magnifies the jar's central motif, a bird within a spiral, supported by traditional pueblo symbols extending from its curved exterior. She deviates slightly from the jar's design on the painting's left side, reversing the interior designs of a curved triangular form and condensing a red inverted kiva step motif into a slimmer form. Otherwise, she faithfully reproduces the jar's designs, even adapting the black and red tones used by Zia potters. Hardin's red is slightly darker, complementing the painting perfectly. Her ability to gracefully translate this image from clay to canvas is truly remarkable.

The painting is signed Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh in lower right. It is framed in an updated version of the original frame style preferred by Hardin. The painting is mounted within its own frame over a fabric matting, within a larger frame.

Helen Hardin (1943-1984) Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh or "Little Standing Spruce" was an innovative and influential painter from Santa Clara Pueblo. Hardin was born in 1943 to Santa Clara Pueblo painter Pablita Velarde and Caucasian civil servant Herbert Hardin. Inspired by her mother, she began creating and selling paintings as a teenager. She went in a different direction than her mother and her mother's peers, creating more contemporary works that depict Native American symbology with striking geometrical patterns and abstract imagery. She died of cancer in 1984, leaving behind an astounding body of work for her many admirers to enjoy.

Helen Gachupin (1931-1999) was a Zia Pueblo potter. Gachupin worked using traditional methods, materials, and designs. She was not known to have been particularly prolific, but she was quite skilled, and her works have been placed in several prominent museum collections. Gachupin passed away in 1999.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this PAIR Helen Hardin Painting and Helen Gachupin Pottery Jar is from a private New Mexico collection, obtained from Case Trading Post

Recommended Reading: Changing Woman: The Life and Art of Helen Hardin by Jay Scott

TAGS: Santa Clara Pueblo, Pablita Velarde, Native American Prints, Native American Paintings, Helen Hardin, Santa Clara Pueblo Painter, Southwest Indian Pottery, Zia Pueblo, Southwest Indian Pottery