Narciso "Ciso" Platero Abeyta, or Ha So Deh (1918–1998) was a

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

painter, silversmith and Navajo code talker. He is known for his colorful paintings depicting Navajo life. His work is in the permanent collection of museums including the

Smithsonian 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 ...

Early life and education

Abeyta was born in 1918. He is named after his father, Narciso. His mother was Pablita. He started drawing when he was eleven. He attended the Santa Fe Indian School, starting in 1939.

Dorothy Dunn Dorothy Dunn Kramer (December 2, 1903 – July 5, 1992) was an American art instructor who created The Studio School at the Santa Fe Indian School. Background Dunn was born on 2 December 1903 in Pottawatomie County, Kansas and educated in Chi ...

was his teacher. Abeyta was a Golden Gloves boxer. He served in World War II in the United States Army, as a code talker. After he returned from service, he was unable to work for ten years due to his experiences at war. Eventually, he attended the University of New Mexico. He trained under

Raymond Jonson Raymond Jonson (July 18, 1891 – May 10, 1982), was an American-born Modernist painter known for his paintings of the American Southwest. Born Carl Raymond Johnson, he originally signed his paintings C. Raymond Johnson, but later used Ray ...

Mid-life and career

Abeyta was primarily a painter. His paintings document Navajo life, and use brush stroke techniques that are reminiscent of Navajo rugs. He had two known commissions for work as a muralist; a 1934 mural for a social science classroom in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

and in 1939 for Maisel's Indian Trading Post in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. He demonstrated painting at the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair Abeyta married Sylvia Ann, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

ceramics artist. They had seven children, including artists

Tony Abeyta Tony Abeyta (born November 6, 1965) is a contemporary Navajo Dine' artist living between Berkeley California and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Abeyta's work is most well known as mixed media paintings and oil landscapes of the American southwest. His ...

and Pablita Abeyta. The family lived in

Gallup, New Mexico Zuni: ''Kalabwaki'' , settlement_type = City , nickname = "Indian Capital of the World" , motto = , image_skyline = Gallup, New Mexico.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption ...

Later life and legacy

Abeyta died on June 22, 1998, from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. His work is held in the collections of the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

, National Museum of the American Indian, and the Museum of New Mexico. Abeyta's paintings were included the book, ''Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art'' (1957, University of Arizona Press) 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). ...

Major exhibitions

*1994 –''Translating Navajo Worlds: the Art of Narciso (Ha-So-De) and Tony Abeyta'',

Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian 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 ...

, Santa Fe, New Mexico

References

External links

Narciso Abetya artwork at the Smithsonial National Museum of the American Indian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abeyta, Narciso 1918 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Native American painters Navajo code talkers Artists from Santa Fe, New Mexico Military personnel from New Mexico University of New Mexico alumni Native American male artists 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century American male artists