Beatien Yazz Original Painting of a Pair of Horses [SOLD]

This original painting was completed in February 1943 by Diné artist Beatien Yazz.  The artist was just 15 when he completed this image.  It features a pair of horses and a small tree, framed within an upper border of rain clouds and a lower border formed by a Yei figure.  Yazz would become known for his excellent depictions of wildlife.  His skill is apparent in the graceful depiction of a reclining horse that appears in this painting.  The painting, as a whole, is sweet and primitive, and the beautiful white horse stands out as a sign of good things to come.

The painting is signed Beatien Yazz in the lower right. It is unframed and still attached to the original mat.  Handwritten text on the back and the mat dates the piece to February 1943, identifies the original price of $3.50, and describes the painting as a “conventional representation of rainbow at bottom of picture and of rain clouds at top.”

Beatien Yazz (1928-2012) was a Diné artist.  He began painting when he was just a child and enjoyed early successes, which encouraged him to pursue his artistic interests.  When he was just a teenager, he had a solo exhibition at the Art Center in La Jolla, California.  The exhibit was covered by the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union.  He exhibited widely and received many notable awards and accolades during his long career.  During the last 20 years of his life, Beatien Yazz suffered from severe eye problems. Certain sources report that he had glaucoma, and others say that doctors were unable to determine what the problem was. A Navajo Medicine Man said it was because he once painted the Navajo sacred Yeibichai. To be cured, Yazz would have had to undergo a purifying ceremony performed by the Medicine Man. Yazz was unable to afford the ceremony.

Condition: good condition with some abrasion and discoloration, mostly on the attached mat

Provenance: this Beatien Yazz Original Painting of a Pair of Horses is from the large collection of a Santa Fe resident

Reference: Wide Ruins: Memories from a Navajo Trading Post, Sallie Wagner

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