Original Painting of a Navajo Couple in their Buckboard [SOLD]

Robert Chee (1937-1971) Hashke-Yil-e-Cale has presented a nostalgic memory of the Navajo days of old when there were buckboards instead of pickup trucks.  This is such a beautifully presented family portrait.  The lines are simple but definitive in setting the scene.  The clouds overhead and the dark sky set the scene for pending nightfall and the couple is quite likely returning to its hogan after visiting the trading post to possibly sell a Navajo rug or pawn some Navajo jewelry.  The buttes framing the edges of the painting define the features of the Navajo Reservation.  Snow on the buttes and ground reveal the cold winters experienced on the Reservation. 

Chee painted in a style similar to that of Harrison Begay and Beatien Yazz, yet slightly different, as he tended to be more detailed and representational of life in contrast to the more dream-like paintings of his contemporaries.  It is unfortunate that Chee passed away at the young age of 34.

Condition: excellent original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Illinois who purchased it in 1991 from Santa Fe art dealer and collector Richard M. Howard.

Recommended Reading: Southwest Indian Painting: a changing art by Clara Lee Tanner