Young Diné (Navajo) Boy and Rabbit

Yazz was fond of painting young Navajo children at work and at play. He obviously relished his early years as a child on the Navajo Reservation where he was free to play and roam endless lands without restrictions or fear. His daily visits to the trading post on the reservation were his only exposure to non-Navajo ways and non-Navajo people. It was there that his penchant for painting was encouraged by the Lippincotts who were the traders at Wide Ruins Trading Post where Yazz grew up.

Yazz treated the humans in his paintings with very precise realism while he treated landscape items in a more Asian fashion. The tree in this painting is a good example of the latter. Perhaps this influence came from his World War II military experience and exposure to Asian art.

Condition: The painting is in original excellent condition. It has never been framed and is currently shrink-wrapped for protection. It is signed in lower right.

Provenance: This painting is among a collection from the Balcomb family, formerly owners of an art gallery which they closed in 1976.