Description:
Watercolor on paper. Signed l.r.: Narcisco Abetya 1938, Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 63.
From: American Indian Painters, Vol. 2, p. 10: I do not remember just when I first saw his paintings, but I recall they made a profound impression on me. Not only were they the work of an individual creative artist who was not looking over his shoulder to see what the others were doing, they were expertly done. They did not follow the tradition of the earlier Southwest artists. His subjects were Indian, of course, but done with a technical authority, suavity, grace, and eclat that we rather associate with the sophisticated fashion artists of Paris, instead of being the work of a young Navajo from the isolated regions of northern Arizona. Of course, the young chap had been out of the reservation; but his contacts in the Indian School at Santa Fe could hardly have been those of a world capital of fashion. Certainly, the Navajo's is an old culture and civilization, but where did Ha-So-De get his amazing technical ability and worldly wisdom? It is possible that by some strange atavism, Ha-So-De might be an incarnation of some artists henchman of Kubblai Khan? His paintings, "Directing Guests", "Let Them Live", and "Children to the Day School", although simpler in composition , are strangely reminiscent of Moghul paintings of the seventeenth century. The combinations of colors and the powerful rhythm of flowing lines are, however, neither Moghul nor Chinese. In color, he prefers the strong blacks, greens, and endless varieties of reds, and burnt ochres, but seldom yellows and oranges. Naturally, his paintings have been widely exhibited from San Francisco to Paris. Narcisco Abeyta, a full blood Navajo, was born at Carreo, New Mexico in 1920. In 1939 he was awarded second prize for a poster for the San Francisco World's Fair and a couple of year later, he illustrated "Aye Chee, Son of the Desert". He has also a mural or two to his credit. He enlisted in the army and was with the 105th infantry in the invasion of Okinawa and in the attack on Iwo Jima with the 77th Division. "Let Them Live" could easily have foundered on the rock of sentimentality, but Ha-So-De shows that he is capable of expressing the most tender feeling without being maudlin. The horses can hardly be considered Navajo mustangs, but no matter. Notice with what assurance the young Navajo woman sits her steed, and the manner in which the infant fawns balance the riderless horse. (Collection, University of Oklahoma)