Joseph Henry Sharp, (1859-1953)

Indian Chief 20 x 24in framed 30 x 34in

Indian Chief
signed 'J.H. Sharp' (lower right)
oil on canvas
20 x 24in
framed 30 x 34in
Painted circa 1920.

Provenance
Edenhurst Gallery, Palm Desert, California.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Exhibited
Salt Lake City, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Bierstadt to Warhol: American Indians in the West, February 15 – August 11, 2013.

Literature
Utah Museum of Fine Arts Quarterly, January – March 2013, n.p., illustrated.

We wish to thank Dr. Marie Watkins for her kind assistance with cataloging the lot.

Joseph Henry Sharp first visited Crow Agency, Montana in the summer of 1899 with his wife Addie. He chose to sojourn there because he was fascinated by the history and culture of the Crow and the Battle of Little Bighorn where General Custer lost his last fight. In their first summer here, 'a great number of Indians, including any Crow, Sioux, Blackfeet, and Cheyenne, had gathered for a big Crow Council. Sharp was ecstatic; it was like a restaging of history. He watched the ceremonies and read the slips of paper Addie handed him as the old warriors who had fought in the great battles sat around the fire reminiscing and relating brave deeds.' 1

The Council was an auspicious start and provided a great opportunity for Sharp to meet and paint the portraits of many of the attendees. During his years at Crow Agency, he painted at least 212 Indians from life and photographed another 400. 2 During this period, Sharp began to collect artifacts of the Northern Plains Indians that would figure in his portraiture even after his move to Taos in 1912.

The present work may possibly depict Strikes his Enemy Pretty, a Crow Indian who was one of Sharp's favorite models during his early years at Crow Agency. Sharp often depicted him in a war bonnet and native dress. Here, the sitter is depicted with the usual 'props' from Sharp's artifacts collection — he is portrayed as a Northern Plains Indian chief wearing a buckskin war shirt and feather war bonnet, seated in front of a painted elk hide with an eagle feather prayer fan suspended to one side. The shallow interior space is exemplary of Sharp's figural work, where 'the depth is usually limited by a broad expanse of wall or tepee' with 'one main focal point...given variety by the abundance of detail and the artist's subtle use of light.' 3

1 F. Fenn, The Beat of the Drum and the Whoop of the Dance, Santa Fe, Fenn Publishing Co., 1983, p. 130.
2 Ibid, p. 138.
3 Ibid, p. 135.