Original Painting “Men Singing” [SOLD]

This painting is signed in lower right Tohoma ’37, a signature that Quincy Tahoma used early in his career before changing the spelling to Tahoma.  He indicated, on verso, the title, date and his age of 17, which does not agree with a published date of birth of 1917.  At any rate, whether he was 17 or 20, the painting is an amazing work of art for a young person.  It is possible that someone else incorrectly wrote the age on the painting.

Tahoma presents us with a group of seven men, all of whom are singing vigorously.  An eighth one is apparently taking a nap. They are dressed in a variety of clothing from checkerboard to plain trousers, plaid to flower shirts, wrapped in blankets, and cowboy hats to bandanas.  As a background, he included an arbor with a wooden wall and a large arrangement of a green plant.

This early painting clearly shows Tahoma's departure from the influence of his time at the Santa Fe Indian School.  Had he not put the wood structure behind the singers, the style would have been typical of that established during the tenure of Dorothy Dunn as director of The Studio of the Indian School. 

Tahoma had been sent by the Government to the Albuquerque Indian School in 1929 from his home in Tuba City, Arizona.  A year later, he was transferred to the Santa Fe Indian School, entering in the 4th grade. Santa Fe contrasted sharply with his home on the Navajo Reservation and this must have been difficult for a boy of 12 years of age.  Not only was he taken away from his parents, he was taken away from familiar life of a Navajo on the Indian Reservation.

The painting is a wonderful mixture of earth colors in matte finish.  It was painted on white artist paper.  It has just been framed using archival materials and a brown wood frame.  It is ready to hang and enjoy.

Condition: appears to be in original condition

Provenance: from the collection of a family from Colorado

Recommended Reading: Quincy Tahoma, The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist by Charnell Havens, et al