Beatien Yazz Original Painting of Man, Horse, and Detailed Landscape [SOLD]

This large original painting was created by Beatien Yazz.  With this image, we are provided a rare treat in the form of a detailed landscape.  Yazz’ paintings usually focus on Diné people and animals. Usually, he would include some small part of the environments in which they exist—a rounded hilltop, a distant horizon line, or a single mesa rising in the background—but it’s very rare to see a full landscape like the one that appears in this piece.  Front and center, of course, is a Diné man on horseback.  As per usual, the figures look beautiful.  It is the large and intricate landscape that sets this piece apart.

The landscape depicted here is Monument Valley, or Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii (“valley of the rocks”) in the Diné language.  This area has appeared in countless films and has become a symbol of sorts for the geography of the American Southwest.  In person or on film, it is dramatic and beautiful.  In this image, interestingly, it feels a bit more modest and approachable.  This makes sense, given that this region was Yazz’ home.  Warm orange, pink, and purple tones form the hills and buttes.  Green tones appear, mostly in the foreground, signifying plant life.  Up above, soft blues and light greens blend to form the clear sky through which two birds pass.  With this piece, Yazz seems to have dialed back the intensity of Monument Valley, instead focusing on portraying his affinity for the region.  This is an excellent example of Beatien Yazz’ work.

The painting is signed Beatian Yazz in lower right.  It is framed under a pale green mat in a carved wood frame, which has been painted silver.

Beatien Yazz (1928-2012) was a painter who was born in 1928 on the Navajo Reservation.  At an early age, Yazz met Bill and Sallie Lippincott, traders at Wide Ruins Trading Post. They recognized Yazz’s talent and made available to him scraps of paper and other equipment so that he might practice his artwork.  Alberta Hannum’s book Spin a Silver Dollar tells the story of the Lippincotts and the young Navajo boy they encouraged. The book was illustrated by the boy himself—Beatien Yazz. Yazz went on to become a successful, influential, and accomplished artist.

Condition: very good condition with some minor marks and discolorations near the top edge

Provenance: this Beatien Yazz Original Painting of Man, Horse, and Detailed Landscape 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, Yazz: Navajo Painter, Beatien Yazz, Navajo Nation Painter