Painter and sculptor Dan Namingha is one of the preeminent Native American contemporary artists practicing today. A reverent spirit for nature and the land stands at the heart of his creations, as he celebrates the life and traditions of his Hopi heritage. The artistic influences on his dynamic minimalist works include Jackson Pollock, Michelangelo and Norman Rockwell.
Namingha was born in Keams Canyon, Arizona. He is a member of the Hopi-Tewa tribe, an Indigenous nation known for vivid art, especially pottery. He comes from a long line of artists and potters. His mother is Dextra Quotskuyva, one of the most influential potters of the past century. His great-great-grandmother is Nampeyo, who is considered the godmother of Hopi pottery.
Namingha studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Sante Fe, which later awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2009. He also attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago.
In 1992, he was the subject of the PBS documentary Dan Namingha: Seeking Center in Two Worlds. He has received many prestigious awards, including the Award and Tribute from the Harvard Foundation at the Fogg Art Museum of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1994, the Visionary Award from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Sante Fe in 1997 and the Abbott Sekaquaptewa Award from the Futures for Children in 2008.
Major collections and museums holding his work include Booth Western Art Museum in Atlanta, the Náprstek Museum in Prague, the Royal Collection in London and the NASA Art Collection in Washington, DC.
Namingha lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he continues to create art that inspires viewers, collectors and critics.
On 1stDibs, explore the vibrant world of Dan Namingha through his sculptures, abstract works, landscape paintings and more.
Explore a vast range of abstract prints on 1stDibs to find a piece to enhance your existing collection or transform a space.
Unlike figurative paintings and other figurative art, which focuses on realism and representational perspectives, abstract art concentrates on visual interpretation. An artist may use a single color or simple geometric forms to create a world of depth. Printmaking has a rich history of abstraction. Through materials like stone, metal, wood and wax, an image can be transferred from one surface to another.
During the 19th century, iconic artists, including Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Georgiana Houghton and others, began exploring works based on shapes and colors. This was a departure from the academic conventions of European painting and would influence the rise of 20th-century abstraction and its pioneers, like Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian.
Some leaders of European abstraction, including Franz Kline, were influenced by the gestural shapes of East Asian calligraphy. Calligraphy interprets poetry, songs, symbols or other means of storytelling into art, from works on paper in Japan to elements of Islamic architecture.
Bold, daring and expressive, abstract art is constantly evolving and dazzling viewers. And entire genres have blossomed from it, such as Color Field painting and Minimalism.
The collection of abstract art prints on 1stDibs includes etchings, lithographs, screen-prints and other works, and you can find prints by artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and more.