Harrison Begay
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Harrison Begay, also known as Haashké yah Níyá (meaning "Warrior Who Walked Up to His Enemy" or "Wandering Boy") (November 15, 1914 or 1917 – August 18, 2012) was a renowned Diné ( Navajo) painter, printmaker, and illustrator. Begay specialized in
watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
s, gouache, and
silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open me ...
prints. At the time of his death in 2012, he was the last living, former student of Dorothy Dunn and Geronima C. Montoya at the Santa Fe Indian School. His work has won multiple awards and is exhibited in museums and private collections worldwide and he was among the most famous Diné artists of his generation.


Early life and education

Harrison Begay was born circa 15 November 1917, in Whitecone, Arizona. Begay's birth year has also been recorded as 1914. His parents were Black Rock and Zonnie/Ah-Hin Nil-bah and he had eight siblings. His mother belonged to the Red Forehead Clan, and his father was from the Zuñi Deer Clan. He grew up in a
hogan A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or squ ...
, where he was raised tending goats and sheep. In 1934, he entered the Santa Fe Indian School to study art at the "Studio School" under Dorothy Dunn. His classmates included Gerald Nailor, Quincy Tahoma, and Andrew Tsihnahjinnie. Begay learned Dunn's characteristic "Studio Style" painting, a type of "Flatstyle". In her book ''American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas'', Dunn described Begay's work as "at once decorative and lifelike, his color clear in hue and even in value, his figures placid yet inwardly animated.... seemed to be inexhaustibly resourceful in a quiet reticent way." Begay was one of the Studio School’s star students. Begay served in the Works Progress Administration’s
Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...
during the Great Depression era between 1933–1943, painting murals. His Federal Art Project work was once housed in the Gallup Arts Center (a WPA Arts Center), which was demolished and the collection was moved to the Octavia Fellin Public Library in Gallup, New Mexico. During his career, Begay worked in gouache, watercolor, sandpainting, silkscreen painting, and commercial illustration. Most of his works represent genre scenes of Diné (Navajo) life and of natural imagery. He was married in 1940 to Ramona Espinosa. From 1940–1941, Begay attended
Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The college was ideologically organized around John Dewey's educational ...
in Black Mountain,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
under a scholarship from the Indian Commission. The scholarship allowed him to study architecture for one year at the institution. After he continued studies at Phoenix Junior College.


Career

From 1942 to 1945, during the Second World War, Begay served in the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
Signal Corps in Germany, Iceland, the Czech Republic, and other parts of continental Europe. Begay took part in the D-Day storming at Normandy Beachhead. He was honorably discharged in 1945 and returned to Santa Fe. In Begay’s early artwork, he often depicted hunting and war imagery, but he later moved away from these types of images following his harrowing experiences during World War II. That same year in 1945, Begay and his wife divorced, and he had financial problems and trouble selling this artwork. He travelled through Colorado, staying in Denver to study with Gerald Curtis Delano. He returned in to Arizona in 1947. In the 1950s, interest in Begay’s artwork increased. Critics often categorized his style in this period as Native American “Traditionalism,” and praised his work as pure, serene, idealized, and uncomplicated. In 1951, Begay expanded his artistic horizons by co-founding the ''Tewa Enterprises'' in Santa Fe with fellow artist Charles Barrows. This printing company provided another avenue for Begay and Native American artists to disperse their art to a wide audience. Begay took an active role in cutting the screens for his serigraph reproductions. His artwork was easily adapted to the new medium due to his flat forms, delicate lines, and strict fields of color. The low cost of his prints led to the popularization of Begay’s paintings to a wide American and European audience. Tewa Enterprises promoted Native American artists and was one of the first companies of its kind. Begay was close friends with fellow Studio School artist Quincy Tahoma. Following Tahoma’s death in 1956, Begay was overcome with grief. In 1959, Begay decided to relocate to the Navajo Nation Reservation to be closer to his family and community. In the 1960s and 1970s, Begay spent the majority of his time at the Navajo Nation Reservation continuing to make and sell paintings and prints. His work in the 1960s and 1970s represent genre scenes, animals, geographical locations, and natural elements. Begay placed particular emphasis on horses, colts, deer, and fawn. His career was so profitable that he was able to support himself and his family through his art making. Collectors described Begay’s work as a “timeless, peaceful and gentle world, recognizing only the beauty in the Navajo way of life.” Some scholars deem his paintings to be overly sentimental and romanticizing snapshots of everyday life, dismissing them as “Disney art.” Others praise the soft tone and peaceful style of his art as inventive, original, refined, delicate, and detailed.


Death and legacy

Harrison Begay died on 18 August 2012 in Gilbert, Arizona at the age of 95. He was buried in the Fort Defiance Veterans Cemetery in Arizona. Begay’s work has been included in a large number of public museum collections, including the
Montclair Art Museum The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) is located in Montclair, New Jersey, United States, a few miles west of New York City. Since it opened in 1914 as the first museum in New Jersey that granted access to the public and the first dedicated solely to a ...
,
National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...
, the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
, the
Museum of Northern Arizona The Museum of Northern Arizona is a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, that was established as a repository for Indigenous material and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau. The museum was founded in 1928 by zoologist ...
, the Heard Museum, the
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Amer ...
, the
Wheelwright Museum The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is a museum devoted to Native American arts. It is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who came from Boston, and Hastiin Klah, a Navajo singer and medici ...
, the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Philbrook Museum, the
Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gro ...
, the De Young Museum of San Francisco, and many more.


Publications

Books that were illustrated by Begay: * – The story follows a young Papago girl as she learns traditional basketry from her grandmother. * Books and publications that feature Begay's work: * ''Enduring Tradition: Art of the Navajos,'' by Lois and Jerry Jacka * ''Southwest Indian Painting,'' by
Clara Lee Tanner Clara Lee Tanner (née Clara Lee Fraps; May 28, 1905 – December 22, 1997) was an American anthropologist, editor and art historian. She is known for studies of the arts and crafts of American Indians of the Southwest.Lytle-Webb, Jamie (1989). ...
* ''When the Rainbow Touches Down,'' by Tryntje Van Ness Seymour * ''Visions and Voices: Native American Painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art'', by Lydia Wyckoff *


Exhibitions

* 2009–2010 – "Through Their Eyes: Paintings from the Santa Fe Indian School,"
Wheelwright Museum The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is a museum devoted to Native American arts. It is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who came from Boston, and Hastiin Klah, a Navajo singer and medici ...
* 2005 – "Beautiful Resistance: Works on Paper from the Heard Museum Collection,", Heard Museum * 2004 – "Beneath A Turquoise Sky: Navajo Painters and Their World," National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum,


Awards

* 1954 –Officier d’Academie,
Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/ concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...
, presented by the French government. * 1967, 1969, and 1971 – three grand awards at the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial, Gallup, New Mexico * 1969 – first prize at the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial, Gallup, New Mexico * 1970 – Begay received another honorable mention at the Philbrook Museum annual show. * 1995 – Native American Masters Award by the Heard Museum. * 2003 – Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Southwestern Association for Indian Arts The Santa Fe Indian Market is an annual art market held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the weekend following the third Thursday in August. The event draws an estimated 150,000 people to the city from around the world. The Southwestern Association for ...
(SAIA)


See also

* Quincy Tahom, Begay’s friend and fellow artist * Santa Fe Indian School


References


External links

*
Harrison Begay Interview
(2002), by
Gary Auerbach Gary Auerbach is an American television and film writer, director and producer. He graduated from Livingston High School and the University of Delaware, where he earned a degree in Economics. His first job in entertainment was as a film editor a ...
*


Further reading

* Archuleta, Margaret, and Rennard Strickland, ed. ''Shared Visions: Native American Painters and Sculptors in the Twentieth Century''. Phoenix, AZ: Heard Museum, 1991. * Collier, John. ''On the Gleaming Way: Navajos, Eastern Pueblos, Zunis, Hopis, Apaches, and Their Land; and Their Meanings to the World''. Denver: Sage Books, 1962. * Davis, Mary B. ed. ''Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia''. New York: Garland Publishing, 1994. * Dutton, Bertha P. ''American Indians of the Southwest''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1983. * Grafe, Steven L. "Works of Art on Paper by American Indian Artists." In''  A Western Legacy: The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum'', 63–84. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. * Griffin-Pierce, Trudy. ''The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Southwest''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. * Iverson, Peter. ''Diné: A History of the Navajos''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002. * McGeough, Michelle. ''Through Their Eyes: Indian Painting in Santa Fe, 1918–1945''. Santa Fe, NM: Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, 2009. * Seymour, Tryntje Van Ness. ''When the Rainbow Touches Down''. Phoenix, AZ: Heard Museum, 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Begay, Harrison 1917 births 2012 deaths Navajo painters Black Mountain College alumni People from Navajo County, Arizona Phoenix College alumni Recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Painters from Arizona 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Native American printmakers Federal Art Project artists 20th-century American printmakers Native American male artists 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans Native American people from Arizona 20th-century American male artists