The Art and Artists of “The Indian New Deal”

The New Deal ushered in a period of reform in federal policy toward Native Americans, including in schooling and the arts, that became known as the “Indian New Deal.” The four Native artists (whose names we know) represented in Gallup’s New Deal art collection got their starts during the New Deal, first as art students before beginning their professional careers. The artworks they made during this time—five of which are included in Gallup’s collection—respond to the political, ideological, and economic forces that defined the era, while also demonstrating the fundamental creative impulse of self-expression. 

A black and white photograph of a young man with black hair painting a mural of horseback riders on a wall. The man wears a white short-sleeved shirt and dark pants and is standing with one foot resting on a bench, his palette balanced on his knee. He looks down at his palette and uses his paintbrush to pick up up paint. He appears focused and hard at work.

Allan Houser

Allan Houser painting a mural for the Department of the Interior building in Washington, DC, in 1938.

A color photograph of an older person with white hair and crow's feet wrinkles at the corners of his eyes standing against a beige textured wall. He is seen from the chest up, wearing a pink collared shirt and layered turquoise and coral necklaces. He looks directly at the camera and smiles subtly with closed lips.

Jose Rey Toledo

Photographic portrait of Jose Rey Toledo by Nura S. Stone. Date unknown.

A black and white photo of a man with slicked back black hair wearing a plaid shirt and sitting at a table painting. He appears focused, holding a thin paintbrush directly above his paper, on which a scene of skunks and cornstalks is painted. A palette and two paint tubes sit on the table next to him, and a painting of a woman in a field of corn is partially visible behind his left shoulder.

Harrison Begay

1955 portrait of Harrison Begay by photographer Laura Gilpin.

A well-worn black and white photo of a man seen from the waist up with short black hair and gazing up and to his left. He holds a striped blanket or shawl around his shoulders and wears a beaded necklace with a large circular pendant. The background is plain and textureless and the creases from where the photo has been folded are visible.

Timothy Begay

Photographic portrait of Timothy Begay. Date and photographer unknown.

An UNCREDITED ARTIST graphic with a stamp-like design with a stylized silhouette of a person inside a rectangular frame. The edges are zigzagged, and below the frame the text reads UNCREDITED ARTIST. The overall color scheme is grayscale.

This graphic is a placeholder for a portrait for the Navajo artist whose contributions to Gallup’s New Deal art collection have yet to be credited.

A painting of a dancer in motion, taking a big step forward, standing on the tippy-toes of his left foot, his right knee raised high. The dancer wears a yellow skirt, black mask, and tall but delicate, rectangular-shaped headdress. Two pink ribbons dotted with white feathers ripple out behind him. His bare chest and arms are painted white with black geometric designs and he holds two black swords, pointing them downwards. A downward-facing orange crescent shape floats above the figure, in close proximity to his left shoulder.
Allan Houser
Untitled (Apache Crown Dancer)
1942
Casein/tempera on paper
15” W x 20 ¾” H
Timothy Begay Untitled (Navajo Girl with Lamb) About mid-1930s Casein/tempera on paper 10” W x 14” H
Timothy Begay
Untitled (Navajo Girl with Lamb)
About mid-1930s
Casein/tempera on paper
10” W x 14” H
A painting of two rows of figures dressed in traditional clothing dancing against a dark background. Six male figures form the back row. Each has a bare, white-painted chest and a blue-colored face, and wears a differently colored skirt with two tall feathers in his hair. A row of six women is in front. Each wears a differently colored long pleated skirt and long-sleeved shirt and has short fluffy feathers in their hair. The figures are turned to face in different directions but appear to be dancing in rhythm with one another.
Harrison Begay
Untitled (Yei Bi Chei)
About mid–1930s
Casein/tempera on paper
18 ⅞” W x 11 ⅞” H
Jose Rey Toledo Shalako 1940 Watercolor on paper 28 1/2” W x 24 1/4” H
Jose Rey Toledo
Shalako
1940
Watercolor on paper
28 1/2” W x 24 1/4” H
Timothy Begay Untitled (Navajo Girl with Lamb) About mid-1930s Casein/tempera on paper 10” W x 14” H
Timothy Begay
Untitled (Navajo Girl with Lamb)
About mid-1930s
Casein/tempera on paper
10” W x 14” H
A painting of two rows of figures dressed in traditional clothing dancing against a dark background. Six male figures form the back row. Each has a bare, white-painted chest and a blue-colored face, and wears a differently colored skirt with two tall feathers in his hair. A row of six women is in front. Each wears a differently colored long pleated skirt and long-sleeved shirt and has short fluffy feathers in their hair. The figures are turned to face in different directions but appear to be dancing in rhythm with one another.
Harrison Begay
Untitled (Yei Bi Chei)
About mid–1930s
Casein/tempera on paper
18 ⅞” W x 11 ⅞” H
Jose Rey Toledo Shalako 1940 Watercolor on paper 28 1/2” W x 24 1/4” H
Jose Rey Toledo
Shalako
1940
Watercolor on paper
28 1/2” W x 24 1/4” H
A painting of a dancer in motion, taking a big step forward, standing on the tippy-toes of his left foot, his right knee raised high. The dancer wears a yellow skirt, black mask, and tall but delicate, rectangular-shaped headdress. Two pink ribbons dotted with white feathers ripple out behind him. His bare chest and arms are painted white with black geometric designs and he holds two black swords, pointing them downwards. A downward-facing orange crescent shape floats above the figure, in close proximity to his left shoulder.
Allan Houser
Untitled (Apache Crown Dancer)
1942
Casein/tempera on paper
15” W x 20 ¾” H
A painting of two rows of figures dressed in traditional clothing dancing against a dark background. Six male figures form the back row. Each has a bare, white-painted chest and a blue-colored face, and wears a differently colored skirt with two tall feathers in his hair. A row of six women is in front. Each wears a differently colored long pleated skirt and long-sleeved shirt and has short fluffy feathers in their hair. The figures are turned to face in different directions but appear to be dancing in rhythm with one another.
Harrison Begay
Untitled (Yei Bi Chei)
About mid–1930s
Casein/tempera on paper
18 ⅞” W x 11 ⅞” H
Jose Rey Toledo Shalako 1940 Watercolor on paper 28 1/2” W x 24 1/4” H
Jose Rey Toledo
Shalako
1940
Watercolor on paper
28 1/2” W x 24 1/4” H
A painting of a dancer in motion, taking a big step forward, standing on the tippy-toes of his left foot, his right knee raised high. The dancer wears a yellow skirt, black mask, and tall but delicate, rectangular-shaped headdress. Two pink ribbons dotted with white feathers ripple out behind him. His bare chest and arms are painted white with black geometric designs and he holds two black swords, pointing them downwards. A downward-facing orange crescent shape floats above the figure, in close proximity to his left shoulder.
Allan Houser
Untitled (Apache Crown Dancer)
1942
Casein/tempera on paper
15” W x 20 ¾” H
Timothy Begay Untitled (Navajo Girl with Lamb) About mid-1930s Casein/tempera on paper 10” W x 14” H
Timothy Begay
Untitled (Navajo Girl with Lamb)
About mid-1930s
Casein/tempera on paper
10” W x 14” H
Jose Rey Toledo Shalako 1940 Watercolor on paper 28 1/2” W x 24 1/4” H
Jose Rey Toledo
Shalako
1940
Watercolor on paper
28 1/2” W x 24 1/4” H
A painting of a dancer in motion, taking a big step forward, standing on the tippy-toes of his left foot, his right knee raised high. The dancer wears a yellow skirt, black mask, and tall but delicate, rectangular-shaped headdress. Two pink ribbons dotted with white feathers ripple out behind him. His bare chest and arms are painted white with black geometric designs and he holds two black swords, pointing them downwards. A downward-facing orange crescent shape floats above the figure, in close proximity to his left shoulder.
Allan Houser
Untitled (Apache Crown Dancer)
1942
Casein/tempera on paper
15” W x 20 ¾” H
Timothy Begay Untitled (Navajo Girl with Lamb) About mid-1930s Casein/tempera on paper 10” W x 14” H
Timothy Begay
Untitled (Navajo Girl with Lamb)
About mid-1930s
Casein/tempera on paper
10” W x 14” H
A painting of two rows of figures dressed in traditional clothing dancing against a dark background. Six male figures form the back row. Each has a bare, white-painted chest and a blue-colored face, and wears a differently colored skirt with two tall feathers in his hair. A row of six women is in front. Each wears a differently colored long pleated skirt and long-sleeved shirt and has short fluffy feathers in their hair. The figures are turned to face in different directions but appear to be dancing in rhythm with one another.
Harrison Begay
Untitled (Yei Bi Chei)
About mid–1930s
Casein/tempera on paper
18 ⅞” W x 11 ⅞” H
A photograph of an intricate mural on a wall done in the style and using the visual language of a Navajo sandpainting. The painting is an intentionally ordered combination of specific and detailed symbols on a rectangular tan background. The overall design is oriented to the four cardinal directions. The perimeter of the design features four trapezoidal shapes, one in the center of each side, and each painted in one of the four sacred Navajo colors: white, black, blue and yellow. All of the trapezoids have a neat row of straight feathers extending out from their bases. The white, blue and yellow trapezoids contain stylized bird figures and the black trapezoid is painted with white dots to represent stars or constellations. The trapezoids are connected on the left, right, and bottom sides by the elongated U-shaped torso--made up of one red band and one blue band--of a figure whose rectangular head is positioned in the upper left corner of the image and whose skirt and legs are positioned upside down in the upper right. The interior of the painting is made up of four circular faces, each with small black triangles for eyes and a small black rectangles for mouths, aligned with the trapezoids and also painted one of each sacred color. In between the circular faces, stylized depictions of the four sacred Navajo plants, tobacco, corn, beans, and squash, are oriented on a diagonal.
Uncredited Navajo Artist
Sand Painting-Style Wall Painting
1939
Wall paint
72” W x 59” H
A photograph of a rectangular mural painted on a white wall and done in the style and using the visual language of Navajo sandpainting, featuring a stylized dancer figure surrounded by stylized plants. The background of the mural is tan and the bottom edge borders the top edge of the wall's tile wainscoting. Along the bottom is a long white rectangle decorated with two criss-crossing black lines. A white stylized figure with a light blue half-circle shaped head with small black rectangles for the eyes and mouth, an elongated torso, and a triangular skirt stands on top of the white rectangle. Movement is subtly conveyed in the flick of the feathers which decorate the corners of the figure's skirt, in the figure's bent knees, and in its bent and raised arms. To the left and right of the figure are stylized renderings of a leafy plant and a corn stalk. Additional symbolic motifs including a stylized goat, songbird, arrow, and feathered pouch surround the figure. At the top of the painting is another figure similar to the dancer with a half-circle shaped head, bent and raised arms, triangular skirt, and bent-kneed legs. The torso of this figure is very long. It extends the width of the painting, curving around the upper corners and following the top edge to create an almost rainbow-like shape. Its bottom is positioned on the upper left side of the painting and its head is positioned upside down on the upper right side.
Uncredited Navajo Artist
Sand Painting-Style Wall Painting
1939
Wall paint
81” W x 63” H
A photograph of a rectangular mural painted on a white wall and done in the style and using the visual language of Navajo sandpainting, featuring a stylized dancer figure surrounded by stylized plants. The background of the mural is tan and the bottom edge borders the top edge of the wall's tile wainscoting. Along the bottom is a long white rectangle decorated with two criss-crossing black lines. A white stylized figure with a light blue half-circle shaped head with small black rectangles for the eyes and mouth, an elongated torso, and a triangular skirt stands on top of the white rectangle. Movement is subtly conveyed in the flick of the feathers which decorate the corners of the figure's skirt, in the figure's bent knees, and in its bent and raised arms. To the left and right of the figure are stylized renderings of a leafy plant and a corn stalk. Additional symbolic motifs including a stylized goat, songbird, arrow, and feathered pouch surround the figure. At the top of the painting is another figure similar to the dancer with a half-circle shaped head, bent and raised arms, triangular skirt, and bent-kneed legs. The torso of this figure is very long. It extends the width of the painting, curving around the upper corners and following the top edge to create an almost rainbow-like shape. Its bottom is positioned on the upper left side of the painting and its head is positioned upside down on the upper right side.
Uncredited Navajo Artist
Sand Painting-Style Wall Painting
1939
Wall paint
81” W x 63” H
A photograph of an intricate mural on a wall done in the style and using the visual language of a Navajo sandpainting. The painting is an intentionally ordered combination of specific and detailed symbols on a rectangular tan background. The overall design is oriented to the four cardinal directions. The perimeter of the design features four trapezoidal shapes, one in the center of each side, and each painted in one of the four sacred Navajo colors: white, black, blue and yellow. All of the trapezoids have a neat row of straight feathers extending out from their bases. The white, blue and yellow trapezoids contain stylized bird figures and the black trapezoid is painted with white dots to represent stars or constellations. The trapezoids are connected on the left, right, and bottom sides by the elongated U-shaped torso--made up of one red band and one blue band--of a figure whose rectangular head is positioned in the upper left corner of the image and whose skirt and legs are positioned upside down in the upper right. The interior of the painting is made up of four circular faces, each with small black triangles for eyes and a small black rectangles for mouths, aligned with the trapezoids and also painted one of each sacred color. In between the circular faces, stylized depictions of the four sacred Navajo plants, tobacco, corn, beans, and squash, are oriented on a diagonal.
Uncredited Navajo Artist
Sand Painting-Style Wall Painting
1939
Wall paint
72” W x 59” H

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