Diné (Navajo) Oil Painting of a Navajo on Horseback [R]

Jimmy Abeita (1947 - ), being born and raised on the Navajo Reservation at Crownpoint, New Mexico, was exposed all his young life to the ways of Navajo families living and raising sheep in Canyon de Chelly, that marvelous beautiful canyon near the Arizona ghost town of Crownpoint.  His treatments of the landscape and the people of the canyon are unmistakably accurate.

The Diné with his rifle, sitting on his horse at a standstill, is probably looking for coyotes that have been attacking the sheep.  The sky, ranging from blue to gray, would indicate blowing dust—therefore a reason for the kerchief over his face. 

The dry earth in the foreground indicates a hot and dry summer.  What vegetation there is would be native plants requiring little or no rain.  Abeita has presented the landscape as it is and not enhanced it to make it more appealing.  He is a true artist who paints what he sees, not what he would like to see.

Condition:  this Diné (Navajo) Oil Painting of a Navajo on Horseback is in original condition

Provenance: from a gentleman in Albuquerque

Recommended Reading: The American Indians of Abeita "His People" by Edna and John Bennett