Probably the most famous student of Dorothy Dunn, founder of
the Studio School, which began the Institute of American Indian Art
in Santa Fe, Harrison Begay (Haashké yah Níyá or "Wandering Boy")
was born on the Navajo Reservation in 1917 at Whitecone, Arizona.
His parents died when he was seven years old, and he was placed in a government boarding school where he learned English and had his first exposure to painting. When he was 18, he decided to study at the art school in Santa Fe, where Dorothy Dunn and Geronima C. Montoya were key in helping to shape the early art styles of young Native students.
At the time of his death in 2012, Begay was the last surviving student from the Dunn Period at the Institute. He was one of her star students.
During the Great Depression, he worked with the WPA's Federal Art Project and painted murals. These murals are now housed in the Gallup Public Library.
During World War II, Begay took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, worked in the US Army Signal Corps, and served under General Eisenhower. Years later, in the 1960s, after Begay had become a well-known artist, he again met Eisenhower at the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial, where he presented the former president with a painting that is now in a permanent collection in Washington, DC.
Before he went to Europe, his paintings sometimes depicted hunting and Native warfare. Following WW II, he moved away from that type of work and focused on peaceful paintings of Navajo and animal scenes.
He returned to the states in 1945 and, following a divorce, he went to Denver, where he studied with Gerald Curtis Delano. During his life, he was always a student of other artists and art forms. He studied architecture and took college classes.
After returning to Arizona in 1947, he actively painted and promoted his work. In 1951, he became the first Native American to form a publishing company, Tewa Enterprises, along with friend and artist Charles Barrows.
Begay's work primarily focused on watercolors, gouache, and commercial illustration. Tewa Enterprises focused on silkscreens, and the art form fit Begay's style. He was active in the entire process, from cutting the screens to applying the paint. These small silkscreens were a hit with consumers as they captured the popular style of his work and were affordable. He sold the screened prints through tourist outlets across the Southwest. Today, they are widely collected.
See all Harrison Begay Art in the Gallery
When Begay passed at age 95, his work was in the collection of most of the major art museums in the United States and many European collections. He had won awards at every Native Art Show in the United States. In recognition of his contribution to Native American Art, the French government awarded the Palmes Acadmiques in 1954.
In addition to becoming one of the first Native Artists to be internationally recognized, it is important to remember that he was among the first to be able to support himself entirely with his painting.
Harrison Begay paved a road for the many young Native artists who have gone on to pursue careers in art.
