Original Painting of Diné Men on Horseback by Beatien Yazz [SOLD]

This original painting was created in 1978 by Diné artist Beatien Yazz.  The painting features a group of Diné men travelling on horseback through a windswept Navajo Nation.  Three men are placed prominently in the foreground; others exist as shadows off in the distance.  Two of the three men raise their guns above their heads.  The third appears to be loading his weapon, or perhaps lowering it into his eyeline to set his sights on a target.  The shadowed men in the distance are similarly lively despite being made of little more than gray paint.

Yazz did a fine job with his subjects, as usual.  Each man and each horse are carefully detailed, accurately proportioned, and attractively colorful.  This will come as no surprise to Yazz collectors.  What is most unique about the piece is the environment in which the men exist.  They travel through an incredible sandstorm that blurs the line between earth and sky, covering the entirety of the large painting with textured waves of brown, tan, and gray tones.  There is no visible horizon line or distant cluster of hills and mesas; the image is all desert wind and smokey sand.  This is a wonderfully unique image from Beatien Yazz.

The painting is signed B. Yazz and dated 78' in lower right. It is framed in the original wood frame.

Beatien Yazz (1928-2012) Little No Shirt (Jimmy Toddy) was a painter who was born in 1928 on the Navajo Reservation.  At an early age, Yazz met Bill and Sallie Lippincott, traders at Wide Ruins Trading Post. They recognized Yazz’s talent and made available to him scraps of paper and other equipment so that he might practice his artwork.  Alberta Hannum’s book Spin a Silver Dollar tells the story of the Lippincotts and the young Navajo boy they encouraged. The book was illustrated by the boy himself—Beatien Yazz. He served in the U.S. Marines in World War II and was a member of the famed Navajo Code Talkers. Following the war, he returned to the reservation and began to paint in earnest. He specialized in subjects familiar to him in his daily life on the reservation. He has been eminently popular with collectors since the 1950s.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Original Painting of Diné Men on Horseback by Beatien Yazz is private New Mexico collection

Recommended Reading: Yazz Navajo Painter by J. J. Brody

Relative Links: Navajo Reservation, Spin a Silver Dollar, Paint the Wind, Beatien Yazz, Painting, Navajo