Helen Hardin Original Painting “Mimbres Fish” [R]

Helen Hardin, from the very beginning of her career, was at the cutting edge of Indian-influenced art. Her art, though obviously drawing on her Indian heritage and tradition, was very much in the mainstream of modern aesthetics. This small acrylic painting on artist board does not reflect a date. It is a simple painting of a fish but a work exhibiting exceptional drafting skills and superlative technical rendering. It is quite exceptional and striking, as the work of Helen Hardin tends to be, with a true sense of the complexities and intricacies involved in the creation of such a work.

Over a sprayed background of mixed colors, she fashioned a beautiful multi-colored fish with exquisite body designs of red parallel lines, Greek key elements, blue-grey lines and solid fins, all outlined in red and laid on the body in architectural precision in the Pueblo tradition.

This is a truly wonderful work of delightfully intimate scale. The painting is signed in lower middle, Tsa-sah-wee-eh with the artist's cartouche. We sold this painting to a client in 2005 and now have the pleasure of being able to place it with a new collector.

Condition: original condition

Recommended Reading: Changing Woman: The Life and Art of Helen Hardin by Jay Scott, 1989

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Richmond, Virginia, which purchased it from Adobe Gallery in 2005.