Original Painting titled “First Spirits” [SOLD]

David Chethlahe Paladin (1926-1984) was born on the Navajo Reservation in 1926 at Canyon de Chelly, Arizona.  He served in the U. S. Army during WWII and was a prisoner of war for 2-1/2 years. He studied art at the Santa Fe Indian School and then at the California School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Marc Chagall and Mark Tobey. "Paladin gave credit to the influence of Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, and Marc Chagall for influencing him to abandon his early traditional style of painting and embark on a more contemporary style. While still a student, Paladin met Marc Chagall at an exhibition of the artist's work at the Chicago Art Institute. Chagall encouraged him to use his Diné heritage but not to illustrate anything; instead he should listen to the story, dream it, and paint it.  The influence of Mark Tobey and Morris Graves, whom he met in Portland, Oregon, led him to experiment with texture, mixing clay, sand, and mud, and adding them to his paintings." (Arizona Arts and Lifestyle, Spring 1980)

Paladin explored many styles and drew from a wide variety of influences during his productive career.  He began with traditional imagery before expanding into more abstract territory. He also explored a wide variety of media.  Paladin’s images are often rooted in spiritual themes, incorporating traditional Native symbology with unique, personal, abstract imagery.

“First Spirits,” like many of Paladin’s paintings, uses Diné mythology for its inspiration and modern tools for its execution.  Its subjects will be familiar to anyone who is well-versed in Diné symbology. The manner in which they are presented, however, is quite unique.  Paladin used acrylic paints on a metallic board to create this image. He appears to have created most of the image, coated everything in blue paint, and then added a few final details in red and white.  

A label is affixed to the back of the frame.  It reads: “XM 34. Title- First Spirits. Artist- Chethlahe Paladin. Medium- Acrylic on Metalic (sic) Board. Legend- Some of the first life forms emerge into the forms they use today.”  The painting is signed “Chethlahe” in its lower right corner.

Condition: this Original Painting titled "First Spirits" is in excellent condition

Provenance: from the large collection of a New York resident

Recommended Reading: Painting the Dream: The Visionary Art of Navajo Painter David Chethlahe Paladin by David Paladin (author)