Harry Sakyesva, Hopi Pueblo Painter

The book, Visions and Voices, notes that Hopi Pueblo painter Harry Sakyesva studied at Hopi High School in New Oraibi, Arizona. Most interestingly, it also notes that he did not study under the tutelage of Fred Kabotie, the legendary Hopi artist who taught the majority of the published and collected Hopi painters.

Harry Sakyesva signed his paintings as H. Sakyesva (Hopi) in the typical lower right corner of each work.

Harry Sakyesva (1921 - 1969) was a Hopi artist who was born in Hotevilla, a Hopi village on Third Mesa, Arizona.  Sakyesva translates to “People from the Green Valley.”  Snodgrass describes Sakyesva as being “known not only as a painter, but also as a maker of Kachina dolls and as a silversmith.”  She also notes that he received no formal art training.  Sakyesva exhibited at the Museum of New Mexico, Philbrook Art Center, and the Guadalupe Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Sakyesva was primarily known as a silversmith.  Sakyesva died in Scottsdale on Oct. 22, 1969.

Biographical Info Source: Reassessing Hallmarks of Native Southwest Jewelry by Pat Messier and Kim Messier
Recommended Reading: Visions and Voices, 1996 Philbrook Museum of Art.

Relative Links: Native American Fine Art, Hopi Pueblo, Native American Paintings, Fred Kabotie, American Indian Painters: A Biographical Directory