This plate, acquired on the Navajo reservation in the late 1950s, was painted in 1957 by the renowned artist James Wayne Yazzie (1943-1969). It is a very early work, depicting the type of scene that the artist returned to often over the course of his short career before his tragic and untimely death. Yazzie worked in a variety of media, including gouache or casein on paper, oil on canvas, and acrylic on canvasboard. His work focused on highly realistic and loving recreations of Navajo ceremonial life.
This painting was executed on a Midcentury ceramic plate using what appear to be oils. The plate is a soft-robin’s egg blue, with subtle speckling. The painting is of a round dance taking place near a large bonfire, under a stylized moonlit night sky. Each of the dancers is a unique individual, dressed in traditional clothing. Remarkable detail is shown, including concho belts, hair ornaments, and ribbon and fringe ornamentation of the women’s apparel. Trucks and a covered wagon shown in the background tell the story of how they and their supplies arrived at this remote desert location. Signed J. W. Y. “57”. Original owner’s typewritten note taped to the back of the plate misidentifies the artist as John Wayne Yazzie.
Plate measures 10 inches in diameter.
Very good vintage condition. One significant area of paint loss on robe of seated woman spectator nearest the artist’s signature. A few other areas of minor paint loss can be identified under magnification and close inspection.
Further information about this artist from the Adobe Gallery website:
[Navajo artist] James Yazzie genre ... is unusual in that he depicts dramatic events such as a Navajo ceremonial dance where the actors are central but minor in the widening circles of spectators in a landscape. (Samuels, 1985)
James Wayne Yazzie [1943-1969] was a "gifted and independent primitive" (Dunn 1968) who produced large arresting native scenes of the Navajo. Although self-taught, Yazzie used the Santa Fe Indian School Studio style in his art. His use of flatly applied color areas and pastel hues are mistakenly derived from the early works of Harrison Begay and Gerald Nailor, but he was more concerned with specific time, place and circumstances rather than with an imagined idealization. (Brody, 1971).
"James Wayne Yazzie, born in 1943, painted in water media and oils. Frequently there are many figures in a single painting. Frequently, too, there are touches of humor, such as a Navajo girl pulling a man out to dance with her, or where a woman in the foreground is pouring a dipper of water over a sleeping tribesman. Yazzie was killed in a train accident in 1969." (Tanner, 1973)
Brody, J. J. Indian Painters & White Patrons, UNM Press, Albuquerque, 1971.
Dunn, Dorothy. American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas, 1968
Lester, Patrick D. The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters, 1995
Samuels, Peggy & Harold. Samuels’ Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, 1985
Tanner, Clara Lee. Southwest Indian Painting, a Changing Art, 1973.
This plate, acquired on the Navajo reservation in the late 1950s, was painted in 1957 by the renowned artist James Wayne Yazzie (1943-1969). It is a very early work, depicting the type of scene that the artist returned to often over the course of his short career before his tragic and untimely death. Yazzie worked in a variety of media, including gouache or casein on paper, oil on canvas, and acrylic on canvasboard. His work focused on highly realistic and loving recreations of Navajo ceremonial life.
This painting was executed on a Midcentury ceramic plate using what appear to be oils. The plate is a soft-robin’s egg blue, with subtle speckling. The painting is of a round dance taking place near a large bonfire, under a stylized moonlit night sky. Each of the dancers is a unique individual, dressed in traditional clothing. Remarkable detail is shown, including concho belts, hair ornaments, and ribbon and fringe ornamentation of the women’s apparel. Trucks and a covered wagon shown in the background tell the story of how they and their supplies arrived at this remote desert location. Signed J. W. Y. “57”. Original owner’s typewritten note taped to the back of the plate misidentifies the artist as John Wayne Yazzie.
Plate measures 10 inches in diameter.
Very good vintage condition. One significant area of paint loss on robe of seated woman spectator nearest the artist’s signature. A few other areas of minor paint loss can be identified under magnification and close inspection.
Further information about this artist from the Adobe Gallery website:
[Navajo artist] James Yazzie genre ... is unusual in that he depicts dramatic events such as a Navajo ceremonial dance where the actors are central but minor in the widening circles of spectators in a landscape. (Samuels, 1985)
James Wayne Yazzie [1943-1969] was a "gifted and independent primitive" (Dunn 1968) who produced large arresting native scenes of the Navajo. Although self-taught, Yazzie used the Santa Fe Indian School Studio style in his art. His use of flatly applied color areas and pastel hues are mistakenly derived from the early works of Harrison Begay and Gerald Nailor, but he was more concerned with specific time, place and circumstances rather than with an imagined idealization. (Brody, 1971).
"James Wayne Yazzie, born in 1943, painted in water media and oils. Frequently there are many figures in a single painting. Frequently, too, there are touches of humor, such as a Navajo girl pulling a man out to dance with her, or where a woman in the foreground is pouring a dipper of water over a sleeping tribesman. Yazzie was killed in a train accident in 1969." (Tanner, 1973)
Brody, J. J. Indian Painters & White Patrons, UNM Press, Albuquerque, 1971.
Dunn, Dorothy. American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas, 1968
Lester, Patrick D. The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters, 1995
Samuels, Peggy & Harold. Samuels’ Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, 1985
Tanner, Clara Lee. Southwest Indian Painting, a Changing Art, 1973.
