WAY OF LIFE
Harrison Begay (Navajo, 1917-2012)
A new exhibition at Adobe Gallery features the paintings of Navajo artist Harrison Begay.
SANTA FE, NM
In 2002 Harrison Begay posed for photographer Gary Auerbach, who also conducted a brief Q&A with the famous Navajo painter.
“Having seen some pueblo ceremonial paintings by Fred Kabotie (Hopi), for the first time at the Santa Fe Art Museum, I became interested in painting,” Begay tells Auerbach. “In the year 1940, I began to study at the Santa Fe Indian Art School. The Santa Fe Indian Art School taught a lot of good Indian artists. Navajo, Apaches, Pueblos and other tribes learned Indian arts. Becoming well known are Allan Houser, Gerald Nailor, Ben Quintana, Joe Herrera, Quincy Tohoma and others. Art teacher, Dorothy Dunn (white woman) was a very good teacher and helped a great deal to promote Indian art, especially paintings. Now there
are many good Indian artists, painters, sculptors, silversmiths and others. With the encouragement and help from the Navajo Tribal government, many Navajo artists have established their own studios or shops.”
Begay mentions “many good Indian artists,” and you can almost sense a modesty in his words. Modest because today Begay is often looked back on with fondness as an early and important innovator for Native American painters. Today his works not only command attention, but also reverence.
Now open at Adobe Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is Diné Life and Legend: Paintings by Harrison Begay. The Navajo painter, who died in 2012, was a world-renowned artist and regarded as one of the most successful and influential early Native American painters. He studied under Dunn, the famous matron at the Santa Fe Indian School. Later he attended colleges in North Carolina and Arizona. He was also in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1942 to 1945. In 1947, he returned to the Navajo Nation and prospered in his art until his death at the age of 95.
His work was rooted in the earth and his people, something that comes out when, in 2002, Auerbach asked the artist if he had any specific memories of childhood. “When I was 4 years old, my first trip in a wagon ‘buggy’ to a trading post with my parents. I was with my older brother (6 years) and my little sister (2 years). It was springtime,” Begay told the
photographer. “My family had sheep and goats at home. My main happiness and joy was being around the little ranch with little lambs and little baby billy goats. Mostly, I liked a little brown puppy, a boy pup. He grew up and was a good sheepherder. A good strong dog and good defender of the sheep in keeping the coyote away. Then I learned to ride horses, and I found one that I liked, and he liked me also. I rode him for herding sheep, and fed him lots of corn that my parents raised. At the age of seven years, I went to school at Fort Defiance, Arizona.”
Begay’s work, like that of Houser’s early painted work, is exemplified by the exquisitely designed scenes of Native American life done in a water-soluble medium on paper. Begay frequently filled his paper with dancing figures, Navajo symbols, objects from nature such as clouds and bushes, and also Native American objects such as weavings, jewelry and traditional clothing. His works often featured ceremonies, and placed heavy emphasis on the Navajo way of life. The show will feature approximately 15 paintings by the artist, including several untitled works that show numerous male and female figures in various states of celebration.
“Begay’s serene, impeccably crafted watercolor paintings are beautiful documents of life on the Navajo reservation. Begay depicted his preferred subjects—his people and the animals that populated their land—with unparalleled grace. His ceremonial, spiritual and mythological scenes are remarkable as well, and not just because of their relative rarity. They’re every bit as warm and accessible as his simple scenes of everyday life,” says Michael Marchant with the gallery. “Begay was a gifted traditionalist whose works have an enduring appeal that has influenced countless other artists. The collection presented in this exhibit dates to the 1970s, a period which many collectors regard as Begay’s strongest. The collection includes paintings that feature a wide variety of subjects, offering the viewer a comprehensive look at Begay’s style.”
Diné Life and Legend: Paintings by Harrison Begay continues through May 31.