01.13.24 Abeyta Family

The Abeyta Family Lineage

By Rebekah Powers | January 2024

Tony Abeyta is a celebrated Navajo painter who works from his own emotional response to the land, plants and animals and the cosmos, informing his art with the narratives of indigenous origins. Tony creates meaningful images that connect man and nature, a form of healing for himself, his family and the world at large. Tony Abeyta has become a super star, with a studio in Santa Fe and also in San Francisco, known for his passion for the work, his exploration Navajo iconography and the awareness and compassion for his people expressed through his art. He credits a lot of his success in life and in art to his k’e, (Navajo word for family and loving connections).

Tony Abeyta, “Spirit Of The Deer”, 4ft x 10ft

On display and available for acquisition at Chimayo Trading: “Spirit Of The Deer”, a monumental painting of 4 deer bounding across the canvas, as large as life (4’ by 10’). Painted with thousands of small brushstrokes, the huge canvas sings with a rhythm of its own and celebrates nature at its finest.

His father, Narciso Abeyta Ha-So-De (1918-1998), was born on the Navajo Reservation during one of its most difficult periods, educated at the Santa Fe Indian School and he served as a code talker in WWII. It took 10 years after he returned home shell shocked from the war to find his way back to painting. His pivotal decision to study Art at the University of New Mexico where he met the talented ceramicist Sylvia Shipley who would become the mother of his 3 children. He would become a Golden Glove boxer and was respected as an artist and silversmith. But he would struggle. His life is too complex to summarize here, but he gave Tony the recognition that nothing important comes without struggle, and it is part of the learning that he passes on to his children. Struggle can make us stronger.

Narciso Abeyta – Ha-So-De , (1918-1998) – 40” x 28”

Chimayo Trading is offering a rare piece by Narciso Abeyta in the Navajo style of “flat painting”. A man who struggled with life, his art was a way to connect with whimsy, color and joy of his ancestral k’e.

Tony Abeyta was born in Gallup in 1965, the youngest child of three, and he credits his artistic sisters Elizabeth and Pablita for not only raising him, but for launching him into the world of art where he has continued to grow and evolve, ascending to great heights. Tony and his sisters all became visionaries and activists in their own way using their platforms to advance Native American art and culture in the world beyond the Four Corners. But It was Tony who won awards and received an honorary doctorate, who headlined major shows around the world and who became one of the most honored and collectible of artists, declared “a Living Treasure”.

Tony Abeyta “Waterfall” – 34” x 20”

Another painting by Tony Abeyta, “Waterfall”, exemplifies his unique way of breaking down angles in the landscape, creating hidden motifs to find and explore, based on Tony’s years of studied observation in the mountains and valleys of New Mexico. His works are luminous and lively compositions that build a bridge between the viewer and the natural world.

Pablita Abeyta (1933-2017) whose beauty, warmth and understanding of intertribal and national politics shaped law that changed the trajectory of Native American history. Elizabeth Abeyta (1955-2006) pioneered modernism in ceramic art and she paved the way for her baby brother by encouraging him to quit his job at the local theater as a projectionist and take his art seriously. According to Tony, Elizabeth pulled a few strings, called in a few favors and got Tony into the Santa Fe Indian School. As a mature artist who also studied in New York, Chicago, Florence and more, Tony Abeyta defies categories and steps fearlessly into new territory with each progressive iteration of his work.

Tony Abeyta “Masked Congregation” – 16.5” x 60”

“Masked Congregation” is a fascinating work on canvas that spans the gap between 2 and 3 dimensions with the addition of sand in the painted masks of 7 Ye’i figures. Abeyta is recognized by his clarity of color and plane, his depth of understanding of tribal custom and consciousness and his unique articulation of that onto canvas.

Today, the Abeyta lineage includes Tony’s son Gabriel Steven Mozart Abeyta and his daughter Margeaux Jane Abeyta. Gabriel is a filmmaker and songwriter, and Margeaux is a writer and sculptor focused on issues of land ownership and tribal sovereignty working in the Netherlands. Their father has given them the same support that he was given by the sisters he lost too soon.

Chimayo Trading has acquired two intricate paper reliefs that are a collaboration between Margeaux and Tony and represent one small step in the continuation of the family lineage of visionary activism through art. The Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe recently celebrated the Abeyta family legacy with a comprehensive show.

Tony & Margeaux Abeyta (MJA) – 11” x 9.5” each

We are excited to host the work of Tony Abeyta who has spent many years in Taos where he started his family and where he had his first gallery in the very same historic structure that Chimayo Trading has called home for 20 years.

Tony Abeyta has come home again.

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#1 Saint Francis Church Plaza
Ranchos de Taos, NM 87557

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Contact us directly to discuss and evaluate your collection. If you’re an artist, contact us about the possibility of selling your art on consignment or direct wholesale purchase.

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