Original Painting “The Navajo Woman Rider” [SOLD]

This early painting (dated 1939) clearly shows the influence of Quincy Tahoma’s time at the Santa Fe Indian School.  The style is typical of that established during the tenure of Dorothy Dunn as director of The Studio of the Indian School.  Tahoma later evolved into more three-dimensional painting but this early one is of the flat style. 

Tahoma had been sent by the Government to the Albuquerque Indian School in 1929 from his home in Tuba City, Arizona.  A year later, he was transferred to the Santa Fe Indian School, entering in the 4th grade. Santa Fe contrasted sharply with his home on the Navajo Nation and this must have been difficult for a boy of 12 years of age.  Not only was he taken away from his parents, he was taken away from familiar life of a Navajo on the Indian Reservation.

Tahoma painted this when he was 22 years old, so he was no longer at the Indian School.  He had by then begun making departures from the Indian School style by adding ground plane and vegetation.  He had already developed his cartouche signature even earlier than this period.

This painting shows his ties to his homeland on the Reservation.  The female is dressed in the traditional velveteen blouse worn by Navajo women for over a hundred years.  She is wearing a turquoise tab necklace and a concha belt.  Her hair is tied up in a chonga.  Her horse is draped with a Pendleton saddle blanket.  Plants are typical of those from Arizona.  Tahoma chose soft colors for the painting, colors consistent with those of his Navajo homeland.

There is a label on the back of the painting that reads: 

INDIAN MARKET

of the Covelo Indian Community

Golden Gate International Exposition

This is to certify that this painting

The Navajo Woman Rider

was made by Quincy Tahoma

of the Navaho Tribe in Ariz.

Indian Arts and Crafts Board

U. S. Department of Interior

Condition; appears to be in original condition but was not examined before it was recently framed using acid-free materials and UV Protective glass.

Provenance: from a gentleman from Oregon

Recommended Reading: Quincy Tahoma, The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist by Charnell Havens, et. al.