Crocker Art Museum | Sacramento, CA | February 21–May 16, 2021

Spirit Lines

Crocker Art Museum displays the distinctive works of Helen Hardin and her trailblazing family.

The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California, presents the much-anticipated exhibition Spirit Lines: Helen Hardin Etchings, featuring 57 works of prints, etchings and paintings. Not only do viewers get a taste of Helen Hardin’s (Santa Clara) lineage of work, but they will also be privy to pieces by her mother, Pablita Velarde, and daughter, Margarete Bagshaw. The exhibition showcases three generations of talented female artists that broke from Pueblo traditions in media and imagery.

This unique exhibition came to fruition beginning with Crocker’s popular Pueblo Dynasties show that focused on a collection of Southwest Native pottery. “We kept encountering Hardin’s work, and we thought her paintings are really terrific and we also saw that her prints were traveling,” says Scott Shields, associate director and chief curator at the Crocker. “When we did Pueblo Dynasties, the show focused on families of potters with six generations represented, but with painters, there isn’t always that lineage passed down.”

Helen Hardin (Santa Clara, 1943-1984), Deerslayer’s Dream, 1981, Etching, ed. 1 of 65, 18½ x 261/8”. Loan from Helen Hardin #1’s LLC

There’s such a rich pottery tradition in the Santa Clara Pueblo culture, making Spirit Lines even more unique, as Velarde was the first in her family of potters to break tradition and focus on painting. Always conscious of living in the shadow of her mother, Hardin pushed boundaries even further to set herself apart from her mother’s cultural depictions, and “emerged in the 1970s and 1980s as an example of Native American artists wishing to break from tradition.”

“Hardin was trying very much to not paint like her mother,” Shields says, “and mixed traditional imagery with European art and American art trends not associated with Native art cultures.” Hardin utilized bright color, metallic paint and varying techniques and styles that greatly departed from her mother and the majority of Native American artists.

Pablita Velarde (Santa Clara, 1918-2006), Pueblo Dancer, ca. 1970s, earth pigment on masonite, 24 x 12”. Crocker Art Museum, gift of Dan McGuinness, 2020.5.1.

Despite being raised in Santa Clara and living most of her life in the Albuquerque area, Hardin was rejected by the Santa Clara Pueblo elders and was shut out of traditional ceremonies because of her mixed-race background. Because of this, Hardin was careful to invent her own way, as to not take full ownership of Native imagery.

This is illustrated in Hardin’s etching piece Deerslayer’s Dream, where there are clear parallels between Native imagery typically on pottery, as with the deer appearing in the scene, and imagery and style seen in other media. Hardin’s work, while closely resembling sacred figures, is made all her own.

Margarete Bagshaw (Santa Clara, 1964-2015), Between Two Worlds, 2011, oil on canvas, 48 x 36”. Private collection.

Continuing to push boundaries, Hardin’s daughter, Bagshaw, shared her mother’s vision to experiment with vibrant color and abstraction, but also made sure to pave her own way. “Bagshaw is almost cubist in her work,” says Shields, “but it’s great because it informs traditional work and pottery that we can view in our own collection.”

The exhibition features some very important work of Hardin’s, such as her earliest piece, Going Home, that she created to raise bus fare home from a program at the University of Arizona. Realizing she didn’t have money to get home, Hardin recalls her mother telling her, “You know how to make money. Paint something and sell it.”

Helen Hardin (Santa Clara, 1943-1984), Harmony Brings Gifts from the Gods, 1982, metallic acrylic on board, 12 x 40”. Private collection.

Widely regarded as her best piece, Harmony Brings Gifts from the Gods, will also be on view. “It’s really layered and rich with metallic pigment, and it just glows on the wall,” says Shields.

Spirit Lines will be an in-person viewing with restrictions in place, from February 21 to May 16, showing how “each generation pushed boundaries steeped in tradition,” says Shields. While all three women have passed on, they continue to challenge the status quo in spirit.

February 21–May 16, 2021
Spirit Lines: Helen Hardin Etchings
Crocker Art Museum
216 O Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Information: (916) 808-7000, www.crockerart.org