Harrison Begay, also known as Haashké yah Níyá (meaning "Warrior Who Walked Up to His Enemy" or "Wandering Boy") (November 15, 1914 or 1917 – August 18, 2012)[1][2] was a renowned Diné (Navajo) painter, printmaker, and illustrator.

[3] His work has won multiple awards and is exhibited in museums and private collections worldwide and he was among the most famous Diné artists of his generation.

In her book American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas, Dunn described Begay's work as "at once decorative and lifelike, his color clear in hue and even in value, his figures placid yet inwardly animated.... [H]e seemed to be inexhaustibly resourceful in a quiet reticent way.

[9] Begay served in the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project during the Great Depression era between 1933 and 1943, painting murals.

[2] From 1942 to 1945, during the Second World War, Begay served in the US Army Signal Corps in Germany, Iceland, the Czech Republic, and other parts of continental Europe.

Critics often categorized his style in this period as Native American "Traditionalism," and praised his work as pure, serene, idealized, and uncomplicated.

This printing company provided another avenue for Begay and Native American artists to disperse their art to a wide audience.

His artwork was easily adapted to the new medium due to his flat forms, delicate lines, and strict fields of color.

[15][better source needed] In the 1960s and 1970s, Begay spent the majority of his time at the Navajo Nation Reservation continuing to make and sell paintings and prints.

"[9] Some scholars deem his paintings to be overly sentimental and romanticizing snapshots of everyday life, dismissing them as "Disney art.