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Collecting Native American Art

Native American NAVAJO FOLK ART

By definition, Folk Art is any of the art produced by so-called primitive or by non-literate peoples or by those who work outside the accepted traditions of a particular culture.

Simplistic toy figures made of mud and clay are among some of the first pieces of Navajo Folk art on record, dating back to the mid-1800s. It wasn’t until the 1960s that Navajo Folk art started to gain recognition.

It was the works of Navajo Artisans such as Charles Willeto and Thomas Yazzie that sparked the interest in Navajo carvings.

Yazzie is perhaps best known for his woodcarvings depicting Navajo peoples performing ordinary tasks.

Willeto’s carvings are almost a mirror opposite of Yazzie’s, which render captivating Navajo men and woman, as well as animals, with an almost dream-like quality.

Willeto’s son Robin has taken his father’s trademark to the next level, often reproducing images inspired by nightmares of skinwalkers, Navajo witches that are capable of changing forms.

At the impressionable age of eleven, Navajo artist Delbert Buck began woodcarving. Choosing to express humor, Buck creates such representations as a Navajo woman riding an ostrich, cats riding mice and frogs sporting top hats.

Cottonwood being his preferred pallet, Delbert Buck uses simple tools to do his carving and paints the finished work with outlandish color schemes.

Mamie Deschille, perhaps the more seasoned of Navajo Folk Artist, took to using found scraps to create her art. Mamie would express her artistic vision by cutting figurines out of scraps of cardboard and then decorating them in conventional and unconventional manners, such as her sequined giraffe with earrings.

Elsie Benally and Mamie Deschille created a resurgence in popularity of Navajo mud toys just over one hundred years since their inception.

The Herbert family shares a talent and passion for carving Native American folk art images. Creating a variety of animals since around 1895, the tradition has bridged generations with children, spouses and grand children joining in the Herbert family’s favorite form of expression.