Special Value Offer: Diné (Navajo) Original Painting of a Buffalo Hunt [SOLD]

Special Value Offer: The consignor has authorized a price reduction of 15% from the original price of $6500 to a new price of $5500.

Quincy Tahoma (1917-1956) Water Edge was an extraordinary artist who would have been the most significant Navajo (now referred to as Diné) artist of the 20^th century had he lived beyond age 39.  He had the ability to paint soft pastoral scenes that were calm and soothing to the viewer and he mastered the technique of painting powerful and strong imagery of nature and man cooperating and struggling.  He achieved this while living in Santa Fe away from his Diné roots of the reservation.  All the masterful art came from his creative mind while he was constantly fighting a sickness.

Fortunately, Tahoma's talent was not overlooked.  The Museum of New Mexico Gallery featured Tahoma's work in the summer of 1946 and also forwarded two of his paintings to Oklahoma for the first annual Philbrook Indian Art competition at which Tahoma won first prize in the Southwestern painting division of the competition.  He had achieved the status as one of the best Indian painters in the land.  Over the next 10 years, he garnered many awards and was featured in many exhibitions.  His buying audience steadily increased.  He was a popular Santa Fe resident and apparently was as charming as he was handsome.

"One of the most dynamic, imaginative and gifted of Southwest Indian artists was Quincy Tahoma. He also revealed in his works the extreme rhythm and decorative feelings that are essentially Indian. Tahoma lived the life of an average Navajo boy, herding sheep and riding on horseback. Realistic paintings of horses reflect much of his early life, plus the Navajo's unfailing love for this animal. No matter how violent his portrayals became in later years, Tahoma still painted horses with affection and great beauty." Clara Lee Tanner

Tahoma painted Native Americans as beautifully as he did horses.  This brave and determined hunter is strong and his face reveals his concentration on the task at hand.  His horse, while fleeing from the horns of the bison, is careful not to dismount its rider.  The feathered headdress is presented with utmost detail of feathers and streamers.  The background landscape is rendered in a more pastel touch so as to not detract from the threesome of the main subject.  Every aspect of this painting was well planned by Tahoma.  One would not expect less, however, as he was a master as a very young age.

The painting is signed and dated in lower right in a cartouche; featuring the next logical scene of this painting.  It is also signed and titled in the artist's hand on verso and has been framed with a window on verso to reveal the artist's notations.  The painting is dated 1953.

Condition:  appears to be in original condition but has not been examined out of the frame.

Provenance: from a gentleman in Santa Fe

Recommended Reading:  Quincy Tahoma the Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist by Charnell Havens and Vera Marie Badertscher