Issue 228 · Summer 2026·Kazakh embroidered suede robes, Two 16th-century weavings linked by powerful art dealers, An inscribed Caucasian dowry rug and its matrimonial symbolism
HALI is pleased to be sponsoring 'First Moderns', one of two special exhibitions being held as part of the upcoming Whitehawk Show
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HALI magazine
·2 min read·04 Aug 2026·
Diné/Navajo Germantown textile, circa 1870-1895. All textiles from private collections
The 48th Annual Whitehawk Antique Indian & Ethnographic Art Show will take place from 6–9 August at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center in New Mexico. 'First Moderns' is an exhibition in the programme highlighting rare Diné/Navajo Germantown weavings dating from the 1870s–early 1900s.
Diné/Navajo Germantown textile, circa 1870-1895
Diné/Navajo Germantown textile, circa 1880
Whitehawk has assembled an exceptional collection for the ‘First Moderns’. The Navajo Germantown weavings conclusively demonstrate the birth of a new art form on the North American continent.
During the time that innovators like Van Gough, Gauguin and Cezanne began pushing the limits of traditional painting styles in Europe, the mastery of Navajo weaving quietly set in motion groundbreaking experiments with new abstractions and colour combinations in Native American textiles and the first modern art in America.
Diné/Navajo Germantown textile, circa 1880
The exhibits represent the birth of a new art form on the North American continent. In the same era that European painters were pushing the boundaries of traditional painting, Diné/ Navajo weaving witnessed groundbreaking experiments in abstraction and colour. The artistic transformation was related to the development of fine, machine-spun, four-ply, woollen yarn, produced in Germantown, near Philadelphia, and available in a wide range of vibrant aniline colours. Reservation traders who began to commission specific design formats supplied weavers with this new high-grade yam, as well as cotton warps, allowing for higher weft counts and permitting a graphic revolution among weavers who had recently returned to the reservation after internment at Bosque Redondo (Hwéeldi). Kim Martindale, who hosts the Whitehawk Show, values the weavings' ‘flawless designs'. He says, ‘I believe Navajo artists deserve the credit for being the first modern artists in America.'
Whitehawk is the premier event of its kind in the world. More than 130 leading specialists will present exceptional historic and carefully selected contemporary works from six continents. This display will include jewellery, baskets, weavings, pottery, beadwork, carvings, textiles, sculptures, paintings, photography and more.
