Original Painting of a Diné Family Travelling by Wagon by Gerald Nailor [SOLD]

This excellent original painting was made in 1937 by Gerald Nailor, a Diné artist who lived to just 35 years of age.  Nailor was an exceptionally talented painter who studied under Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School during the early 1930s. Because of wide appeal and a short career, very few of Nailor’s works are on the market today.  This piece, dated 1937, is one of the finest we have handled.  Nailor’s subjects here are a Diné family, their horses, and their wagon.  Mother and father ride up front, directing their two horses.  A young son stands behind his father, extending his right hand outward.  He appears to be mimicking his father, whose hand is extended similarly to guide the reins.  Behind them, two young women have focused their attention on a toddler.  Each face is depicted in profile, save for that of the toddler. Hers turns just slightly toward the viewer, revealing her face. 

Nailor’s work here lives up to the high standards expected by collectors.  That it was completed at just 20 years of age suggests that Nailor found and settled into his uniquely appealing style early in his career.  His human figures, with their rosy cheeks and carefully depicted hairstyles, are fine examples of his distinctly Diné artistry.  Those with an eye for detail will appreciate Nailor’s horses.  Their movements feel natural, and their spots, stripes, and manes look beautiful.  Nailor’s color choices are bold, and the manner in which they are applied—thick, opaque, filling his precise outlines with incredible accuracy—is incredibly effective.  This is a charming, stylish image from one of the most important early Diné painters.

The painting is framed using archival materials.  The thin black frame and wide off-white mat work perfectly with the image.  The painting is signed Gerald Nailor and dated “‘37” in lower right.

Gerald Nailor, Sr. (1917-1952) Toh Yah was an influential Navajo painter and printmaker who is best known for his serene and beautiful depictions of wildlife.  Dorothy Dunn’s 1968 book American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas provides an excellent description of the artist’s style:  "Gerald Nailor was the suave stylist-decorator. His lovely patterns of horses, deer, and antelopes were smartly and proudly drawn with never a thought for natural appearance. Every detail of their design was accomplished with adroitness and polish. If one must use the term in connection with Indian art, his work was sophisticated.”

Nailor’s life and career were very short. He was prolific, though, leaving behind a large body of work that is highly desirable today.  He was a printmaker, too, founding and operating a print shop called Tewa Enterprises with his Santa Fe Indian School classmate Harrison Begay.  Their goal was to make Native American artwork—their own and that of their contemporaries—available to a larger audience. They succeeded in increasing the visibility and availability of Native American paintings.  These Tewa prints remain available on the resale market at very low costs. Nailor’s original paintings have become quite collectible.

Condition: very good condition. The edges show minor discoloration from previous non-archival framing materials.

Provenance: this Original Painting of a Diné Family Travelling by Wagon by Gerald Nailor is private collection of a gentleman from Taos, New Mexico

Recommended Reading:  American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas by Dorothy Dunn

Relative Links: Santa Fe, Allan Houser, Picuris Pueblo, Diné of the Navajo Nation, Dorothy Dunn, Native American Paintings, Gerald Nailor