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Title: Canyon De Chelly: 100 Years of Painting and Photography (Places of Spirit Series) by Donald J. Hagerty ISBN: 0-87905-705-X Publisher: Gibbs Smith Publishers Pub. Date: 01 August, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent introduction to the "Canyon de Chelly School."
Comment: Every cowboy story has a canyon . . . . . or so it seems. Yet, only one is a world famous tourist attraction -- the Grand Canyon; one is a World Cultural Heritage site due to its religious significance -- Chaco Canyon; one, deservedly, inspires great art -- Canyon de Chelly. None, perhaps significantly, has much association with cowboys. Cowboys may need canyons, great canyons deserve original artists more than they need cowboys.

Like the "Taos Artists" who created some of the best original American art, Canyon de Chelly has inspired its own "school" of painting and photography. Hagerty has done a masterful job of summarizing the "Canyon de Chelly School" (my label, but it should become official) of art for the past century. It's unfortunate he mostly ignores Native American art from pre-historic to modern times if the Canyon -- but that topic may well deserve a separate analysis of its own.

First of all, Canyon de Chelly is far more believable than the Grand Canyon, which is so huge and so deep that it defies belief. It's possible to stand on the rim and see people and buildings at the bottom of Canyon de Chelly, where the greatest depth is about 1,000 feet. The Grand Canyon is a mile deep, its vistas simply melt into infinity.

The almost 100 illustrations range from the sublime (Ansel Adams 1941 photo of White House Ruin) to the silly (Woody Gwyn's 1994 painting of the parking lot next to Antelope House ruin). If the most beautiful thing we can experience is the sense of the mysterious, as Albert Einstein once described the true source of all art and science, then these artists did capture the essence of Canyon de Chelly (the name is adapted from the Navajo "tse" -- meaning rock, which is pronounced "shay").

One great advantage is the inclusion of recent artwork, showing how the non-Navajo perception of the Canyon has changed. Art a century ago featured Navajos in the Canyon -- just as Taos artists emphasized people; today, Canyon paintings are mostly empty landscapes, as though today's Navajos are an oddity . Navajo artists, of course, still include people -- but then, the Canyon is their home and not a distant mystery.

Many artists, in Hagerty's words, see "Canyon de Chelly as solid and eternal, a place of solace and escape from pressures of modern American culture." Personally, I think of it as a place of living people, and the beauty which surrounds their lives. Chaco Canyon is the vast empty ruined cathedral from people who have vanished into the mists of time; the Grand Canyon is the window into eternity.

Each locale generates a unique artistic depiction, which really hinges on living in the place, or it fades from artistic consciousness. Be that as it may, and Hagerty doesn't delve into such esoteric speculation; he does offer an informed, relevant, intelligent and ongoing look at a truly original element of American art.

The Taos school seems frozen in time even though gigantic in its own legends, the "Canyon de Chelly School" is continually evolving and experimenting with new forms. Taos artist Barbara Zaring is interesting but unreal in her 1980s paintings; Phoenix artist Ed Mell, despite his overlooking the Navajo inhabitants of the Canyon, offers a fresh 1990s view.

There is no "best" portrayal of the Canyon -- though my favorite is Adams 1941 photo -- and Hagerty doesn't imply that one exists. He simply and eloquently offers an excellent overview, giving artists, patrons, collectors and viewers alike an intelligent insight into a very original and significant element of the American art scene.

Suffice to say, no serious collection of American art should be without a portrait of Canyon de Chelly. Hagerty provides a wonderful introductory service, which makes his book perfect for all artists, viewers and people with an interest in the beauty of America.