Last year I had the opportunity to meet an extraordinary woman
whose father had a unique manner of collecting Native American art. He lived in
Albuquerque and never missed the Navajo Nation Fair, the New Mexico State Fair,
the Arizona State Fair, or the Gallup Ceremonial.
And he always bought something unique: a rug, pot, Kachina, basket, jewelry, or a painting at every show. His daughter inherited the collection and is slowly paring it down.
One of the pieces we received from the collection was a painting by Gary Moone, a Navajo artist who won First Place and Best of Class at the Navajo Nation Fair in 1983, 39 Years ago.
That was impressive, but even more amazing was that two of the Judges were Bill Malone, who ran the Hubbell Trading Post at the time, and Don Woodard, a legendary art dealer in Gallup. The third signature on the ribbon was Harry Walters, the curator at the Navajo Nation Museum. Not a bad jury!
It is a painting of a Navajo cowboy taking his herd to water under the red cliffs of the Navajo Nation. The scene will look familiar if you have driven west over Narbona Pass and south toward Window Rock. It could also be along the cliffs below Buffalo Pass near Lukachukai, Arizona. Who knows? The Navajo Nation is so beautiful with its red rock formations and unique landscapes that it could be a National Park.
Moone painted in the style of Navajo realists Jimmy Abeita and Robert Bicenti. Unfortunately, I have been unable to track down the artist. He was talented, certainly equal to or better than many painters. Bill Malone says he remembers him but has no idea what happened to him.
If you know anything about him, I’d love to hear about it. It happens too often that a talented artist disappears. I just read a book that I do not recommend unless you like to torture yourself called The Last Days of Roger Federer. The author follows the career of athletes, writers, painters, musicians, and other creative people who have reached their peaks and details what happens to them next.
It’s a boring lecture or monologue, but he does have a point. Some people reach a level of greatness and can never recapture it. Some of them quit, and some of them go on to mediocrity. I like to think that some people keep getting better!
But, I guess the point of telling you about this book is that it doesn’t matter after you reach a certain point. Joe Namath won only one Super Bowl, but no one can take that away.
Gary Moone is one of the few artists that created a beautiful painting that was good enough to be recognized as First Place and Best of Class. It’s a painting we are proud to show in the gallery.
I hope you like it! You seldom see scenes of Navajo people with cattle. They are unique in the Navajo Nation, and I’d like t think that Gary Moone was as well!
