Description:
Watercolor on paper. Signed l.r.: Chi-chilly-tsosie, Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 70.
From: American Indian Painters, Vol. 2, p. 11: Che-Chille-Tsosie is a Navajo of pure descent. Born at Sail Lee, in 1920, he made the usual trek to the Santa Fe Indian School where he took up painting. He is also trained as a silversmith and he makes his living as a jewelry craftsman. He has painted many watercolors and made murals of mountain scenery and Indian villages for the Fort Wingate Vocational High School. He also decorated the front wall of a store at West Yellowstone. His works have been exhibited all over the United States. Stanley is a singer and dancer and takes part in the tribal ceremonies with the Indian fraternity of which he is a member. He did his stint during the war. The members of the "Navajo Family" are, of course, mounted. The man sits very much at ease while his horse chafes at the bit. The mother is equally at home on the back of a pony. She holds her papoose strapped to the cradle board in her arms, he mount, meanwhile, showing its displeasure with its tail. The group is well arranged, one pony facing the other. The color is harmonious, the blue blouse calling attention to the mother no less than the red shirt to the father. The ten gallon hat and the cradle could, however, have been more firmly outlined against the sky. It is curious how the Indians can suggest solid ground with a line or two. (Collection, University of Oklahoma)