Original Painting “Mimbres Race” by Helen Hardin [SOLD]

"Mimbres Race" is an original painting by Helen Hardin of Santa Clara Pueblo. Like many of Hardin's works, this painting presents a modern variation on an ancestral design, along with a variety of abstract environmental elements. The rabbits that appear here are, as the painting's title clarifies, influenced by those that appear in the artworks of the prehistoric Mimbres peoples.

Hardin selected a palette of earthy tones for this image, using various browns, tans and grays for her profile view of two racing rabbits. Curved lines with rows of dots set in their interiors bend up and away from the smaller rabbit's feet, perhaps suggesting a cloud of dust rising from the sprightly creature's path. As always, Hardin composed her figures with style and precision, continuing the tradition of her predecessors while exploring her own compelling visual style.

The painting is signed Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh in lower right. The following text is handwritten on verso: "‘Mimbres Race,' Contemporary Indian Art by Helen Hardin, Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh, Little Standing Spruce."

Helen Hardin (1943-1984) Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh or "Little Standing Spruce" was an innovative and influential painter from Santa Clara Pueblo. Hardin was born in 1943 to Santa Clara Pueblo painter Pablita Velarde and Caucasian civil servant Herbert Hardin. Inspired by her mother, she began creating and selling paintings as a teenager. She went in a different direction than her mother and her mother's peers, creating more contemporary works that depict Native American symbology with striking geometrical patterns and abstract imagery. She died of cancer in 1984, leaving behind an astounding body of work for her many admirers to enjoy.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Original Painting "Mimbres Race" by Helen Hardin is from a private collection

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

TAGS: Santa Clara Pueblo, Pablita Velarde, Native American Prints, Native American Paintings, Helen Hardin, Santa Clara Pueblo Painter, Southwest Indian Pottery