Beatien Yazz Original Painting titled The Tourist Season [SOLD]

This original painting by Diné artist Beatien Yazz is titled “The Tourist Season.”  When studying the works of prolific painters like Yazz, we always look for unique elements to highlight.  With this piece, a close study is not required, as the entire composition is unlike anything we’ve seen before.  The painting is a charming depiction of a meeting at a trading post on the Navajo Nation. In the center of the image, a Diné woman greets a pair of visiting tourists.  Nearby, an elderly Diné couple and a young boy wait on a bench in front of a trading post.  The boy grabs the elderly man’s arm and points toward the tourists.  Yazz temporarily put aside his casein paints and switched to pen and ink, adding small details like a Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial poster, a Red Cross symbol, and an indecipherable notice posted to the front door.

In the foreground, a cat and a small dog grapple with each other.  Two old-fashioned gas pumps stand on the left side of the image.  Behind the central meeting, a vehicle awaits.  Further in the background, a pair of horses is tied to a post.  Behind that, Yazz painted soft hills and hazy portrayals of sandstone buttes.  The image, as a whole, feels loose and spirited. It’s obvious that Yazz was enjoying himself during the creation of this wonderful painting.

The painting is signed B. Yazz and dated ‘84 in lower right.  It is framed under a wide cream-colored mat with a brown interior band.

Beatien Yazz (1928-2012) was a Diné artist.  He was educated in Santa Fe and Fort Wingate before attending Mills College on a scholarship.  He enjoyed a long career as a painter, illustrator, and art teacher; and at one point worked for the Navajo Police Department.  He painted murals in the Navajo Police Headquarters Building and the Navajo Tribal Court Room. Along with a handful of his predecessors and contemporaries, he was named a “Living Legend” by art historian Ralph Oliver.  His list of notable accomplishments is long and varied, and his works remain highly collectible today.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Beatien Yazz Original Painting titled The Tourist Season is from the large collection of a Santa Fe resident, who purchased the piece directly from the artist.

Reference: The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters, Patrick D. Lester

Relative Links: Navajo Reservation, Spin a Silver Dollar, Paint the Wind, paintings, Beatien Yazz, Navajo Nation Painter