Original Santa Clara Pueblo Painting titled “Passing of the Afternoon” by Helen Hardin [SOLD]

“Passing of the Afternoon” is an original acrylic painting by Santa Clara Pueblo artist Helen Hardin, and it is a rich, layered composition.  Hardin’s primary element is one that has been used by pueblo artists for centuries: the heartline deer.  Like the heartline deer that appear on earlier paintings and historic pottery, Hardin’s figures are depicted in profile, with arrows representing the breath of life traveling inward to their hearts.  Three identical deer appear in the center of the image, standing on a turquoise line.  Down below, six more deer appear, this time composed of simple black outlines.  Two groups of three deer—again, just outlines, which gives them a somewhat ethereal appearance—appear around the area in which the primary trio stands.

The background on which Hardin’s deer appear is itself a wonder.  Up above, large blocks of color cross and collide with one another, blending warm oranges and cool greens together.  Down below, jagged lines of brown and tan cross the image horizontally.  Their earthy tones and their placement just below the animals’ feet suggest that they signify the land.  From here, as we look upward and revisit the upper portion of the background, it becomes clear that Hardin’s work is not merely decorative—she has placed her beloved heartline deer within an incredible abstracted landscape.  Atomized paints cover the entirety of the image with tiny dots in a variety of tones, adding even more depth and texture to this complex, rewarding image.

Adobe Gallery has handled many of Hardin’s works over the years and can say without reservation that this is one of the strongest.  The painting was originally acquired by an Albuquerque couple in 1979.  They loaned the piece to exhibitions at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in 1999 and the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2003.  The painting is signed Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh in lower right.  It is framed in the original frame.  On a board attached to the back of the frame, the following text was handwritten by the artist: “‘Passing of the Afternoon’, a contemporary Indian Painting, by Helen Hardin Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh, Santa Clara Artist.”

Helen Hardin (1943-1984) Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh or “Little Standing Spruce” was an innovative and influential painter from New Mexico’s 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 her an astounding body of work for her many admirers to enjoy.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Original Santa Clara Pueblo Painting titled "Passing of the Afternoon" by Helen Hardin is from the large collection of an Albuquerque couple, originally purchased in 1979

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

Relative Links: Santa Clara Pueblo, Pablita Velarde, Native American Prints, Native American Paintings, Helen Hardin, Santa Clara Pueblo Painter