Original Painting of Night Scene Shepherdess [SOLD]

Beatien Yazz, 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 Lippencott,traders at the 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 told the story of the Lippencotts 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.

Clara Lee Tanner’s Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art comments on Yazz’s style: “Originality characterizes much of Beatien Yazz’s painting.  Also, his colors frequently are strong and contrasting—they are seldom muted, and rich combinations of colors are typical.  With little effort he attains a feeling of action, sometimes as dramatic but not quite as brutal as that of (Quincy) Tahoma.”

With this image, Yazz presented a young Diné woman bringing her sheep back to the corral at the end of the day. As she watches her sheep, she is also witness to a spectacular desert sunset. Rising above the horizon are layers of billowing lilac cumulonimbus clouds rising above a crimson landscape. Small birds fly though the darkening sky as the day ends. The shepherdess walks through a field of chamisa, fading from gold to turquoise as twilight falls. The color pallette of this reservation night scene consists of bright turquoise, deep oranges and various shades of purple.  As Yazz got older and his eyesight began to fail, he began to use bright colors to highlight the rare beauty of the Navajo Reservation rather than the fine line detail he originally was known for. The pieces made during his later period are an explosion of color. This piece is a wonderful example of the work Beatien Yazz made as he aged.

Yazz has rendered his subject in the traditional dress of a Diné woman: a tiered skirt with buckskin moccasins, and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders to warm her from the evening chill.  With this painting, Beatien Yazz used an amazing cacophony of light and color to highlight the unique beauty of the Navajo Reservation. It’s a large piece, measuring about twenty by thirty-two inches, and its size makes it even more exciting.  It is framed beautifully, underneath two mats. The wide exterior mat matches the rich dark blue of Yazz’s night sky, and the interior mat is white. The frame is excellent too. All of these elements work together to create a large, exciting presentation.

The painting, which dates to the late 20th century, is signed by the artist in the lower right hand side.

Condition: The Original Painting of Night Scene Shepherdess is in excellent condition. Provenance:  From an Arizona collection

Recommended Reading:  Spin a Silver Dollar by Alberta Hannum

Relative Links: Native American Painting, Beatien Yazz, Navajo Nation, Quincy Tahoma