Apie Begay

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Apie Begay was a Navajo painter who lived near the Pueblo Bonito trading post in what is now western New Mexico in the early 20th century. He is known as the first Navajo artist to use European-style materials, such as crayons and colored pencils. His exact birth date is unknown, and he died many years before 1936. His name, Begay Apie, means “Son of Milk.”

In 1902, anthropologist Kenneth M. Chapman visited the Navajo region and learned about Begay, who was painting spiritual Navajo sand paintings in his hogan with red and black pigments. Chapman gave Begay a box of crayons, expanding his color palette, and Begay quickly incorporated these new tools. Chapman described Begay’s early drawings as among the first Navajo art made with white-man materials.

Begay produced several works for Chapman, and many see this collaboration as the start of Anglo sponsorship of Indigenous art. He resisted pressure to adopt European styles and kept his traditional imagery and techniques. Some white critics in the past criticized him for sticking to traditional methods, but later scholars have reassessed his importance. By 2009, Tom Holm called Begay “the father of modern Navajo painting,” and his work is often seen as the beginning of Native modernism—art that stays true to Navajo roots while reaching broader audiences.

Begay’s paintings are in major collections, including the Museum of New Mexico and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. His name, Begay Apie, means “Son of Milk.”