Untitled Navajo Painting of Ceremonial Scene by Richard Taliwood [SOLD]

This untitled casein painting by Diné artist Richard Taliwood was created in 1960. Clara Lee Tanner's Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art describes Taliwood as a talented artist who, later in his career, successfully combined traditional imagery with more personalized abstract expressions. This earlier work suggests that the artist had a unique vision even before he began exploring abstraction. It's a night scene, and Taliwood handled it with style and skill.

At first glance, this might look like a typical Diné painting—the influence of Andy Tsinajinnie is apparent in the human figures, and the pink and white lines with rocks and plants recall the works of Taliwood’s better-known contemporaries.  A closer study reveals unique, expressive work that still manages to clearly fit within the traditional Diné style. Thin outlines are replaced by wide gray lines. They vary in tone and width throughout each figure, essentially framing the dancers in shadows.  The brighter colors within the shadows are blended with subtle blues and greens, giving each figure an incredible moonlit glow. This is a very strong image from an artist who is little-known but was clearly very talented.

Diné artist Myron Denetclaw again assisted us with a description of the ceremony depicted here: “The painting represents the Na'a'kaai (the group dance) of the nightway ceremony. Hacheyalti (Talking God) leads the dancers in front holding a fawn skin pouch. Behind him are six participants wearing different designs on their kilts. The figure on the far left corner is Tonenili, the clown of the dance.”

Diné painter Richard Taliwood was born in 1940 at Ft. Defiance, Arizona.  Taliwood was a part-time painter whose profession was architectural drafting.  He attended the Phoenix Indian School before studying at the University of Arizona’s summer Indian Art Project in 1960.  After that, he went to Chicago’s Ray-Vogue art school. Taliwood exhibited actively during the 1960s and 1970s, and received many notable awards for his efforts.   We do not know if he continued working after the 1970s.

Condition: this untitled Navajo Painting of Ceremonial Scene by Richard Taliwood is in excellent condition

Provenance: private New Mexico collection

Reference and Recommended Reading:  Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art, Clara Lee Tanner

Relative Links: Southwest Indian Painting, Navajo Nation, Andy Tsinajinnie, Clara Lee Tanner, Richard Taliwood, Myron Denetclaw