Original Painting of a Navajo Textile Weaver & Her Daughter [SOLD]

Andy Tsihnahjinnie was born near Chinle, Arizona in 1916. He attended elementary school at the Indian School at Fort Apache, but ran away and returned back to the reservation. He then attended school in Santa Fe and became a student of Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School. He was an avid student and was known to have stayed in the studio painting until forced to return to the dormitory. Following his graduation he went to work as an illustrator for the Indian Service.

According to Clara Lee Tanner, he was one of the most versatile of all Southwestern Indian artists. He went through many moods, solidifying a style momentarily then turning to something new and utterly different. His subject matter stayed faithful to his heritage even as his style changed. He was chameleon-like in his ability to change and adapt. He is recognized as one of the finest of 20th Century Navajo artists.

He painted a typical Navajo summer scene here where a Navajo woman has her loom set up outdoors to take advantage of the shade of a tree and the afternoon breeze.  Her daughter is “helping” her.  The rug she is weaving is a twill weave and the artist has painstakingly painted each small diamond of the weave throughout the whole section of the rug that has been completed.  The painting is signed Tsinajinie in lower right, one of the signatures used by the artist.  Other signatures we have seen are A. Tsinajinnie, Tsihnahjinnie and Tsinajinnie.   We have used the spelling shown in Clara Lee Tanner’s book which is Tsihnahjinnie for consistency in our records.    

Condition:  appears to be in original condition but has not been examined out of the frame.  The mat used is acid-free, an indication of proper framing.

Provenance: from a collector of Native art from Oklahoma           

Recommended Reading:  Southwest Indian Painting a Changing Art by Clara Lee Tanner