Original Painting Entitled “Leaping Deer” by Ha So De [SOLD]

Diné of the Navajo Nation artist Ha So De painted this image in the late 1980s and it was purchased by the owners of Kiva Publishing, which, in 1994, produced 225 serigraph prints from this original. 

Narciso Platero Abeyta (1918-1998) Ha So De - Fiercely Ascending began his art career at the early age of 11 by drawing his first creations on canyon walls on the Navajo Reservation. By age 32 he was published in Art in America. He developed a markedly unique style of broad-brush strokes and flowing lines, at times appearing almost nonchalant. He outlined his figures in colorful bands, reminiscent of multiple borders on the Navajo rugs he must have seen the women weaving as he grew up on the reservation. He seemed unconcerned with small detail but only with the sweep and dash of movement in free spirited scenes. His paintings had a good sense of color and contrast.

Ha So De studied at the Santa Fe Indian School and, after World War II, at the University of New Mexico, where he studied with the famed Modernist painter Raymond Jonson. During World War II, he was one of the famed Code Talkers. He garnered many prizes for his work, notably at the New Mexico State Fair, Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, Gallup Ceremonials, at Philbrook Museum, and the Fine Arts Gallery in San Diego. He has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe.

This painting is striking in its mix of colors.  Ha So De chose a deep blue for the deer and put a red outline to complement the blue.  The white underbodies of the deer add a sharp contrast.  The artist's choice of a beige background enhances the presentation of the deer.

Condition: this Original Painting Entitled "Leaping Deer" by Ha So De appears to be in original condition

Recommended Reading:

- Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art by Clara Lee Tanner. 

- There is an excellent article entitled "HA-SO-DE One of the First Individualists" by Guy and Doris Monthan in American Indian Art Magazine, Summer 1976.

Provenance:  from the collection of a Santa Fe family who owned Kiva Publishing and who made serigraph prints from this original painting.

TAGS: Dorothy Dunn, Andy Tsihnahjinnie, Raymond Jonson, Tony Abeyta, Elizabeth Abeyta Rohrscheib, Native American paintings, Diné of the Navajo Nation, Narciso Platero Abeyta, Ha So De