Begay Harrison
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(b 15 Nov 1917). Native American Navajo
painter. He was a prolific artist for over 50 years, and his work is
familiar through paintings, book illustrations and screenprints,
making him perhaps the best-known contemporary Native American
painter. In 1934 he entered the Santa Fe Indian School (see NATIVE
NORTH AMERICAN ART, §IV, 2) and joined the ‘Studio’ of Dorothy Dunn
(1903–1990), where he was one of Dunn’s star students. In 1939, the
year of his graduation, he painted one of the murals on the façade
of Maisel’s trading post in Albuquerque, NM. In recognition of his
contributions to Native American art he was awarded the French
government’s Palmes Académiques in 1954. Due to the public’s ready
acceptance of his paintings, after his return from military service
in World War II he became one of the first Native American artists
to support himself by painting full-time. Widely exhibited, he was a
consistent award-winner at exhibitions, and his work has been
included in every important public and private collection of Native
American art. Begay painted a timeless, peaceful and gentle world,
recognizing only the beauty in the Navajo way of life. His genre
scenes, rendered in soft tones, speak of peace and serenity (see
fig.). Although his prodigious output included facile minor works
tending towards sentimentality, his major work is characterized by
inventiveness, originality, refinement and delicacy. At his best he
was a keen observer, and his drawings of horses and deer are
sensitive and expressive.
