Mary Mendenhall Gray, (1888-1969)

Indian Mother & Child 34 x 30 1/2in framed 40 x 36in

Indian Mother & Child
signed and dated 'Gray - '26' (upper left)
oil on canvas
34 x 30 1/2in
framed 40 x 36in
Painted in 1926.

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

Little is known of painter, illustrator and muralist Mary Mendenhall Gray. Born in Philadelphia, she is known to have painted portraits, still life and landscapes in Indianapolis, Taos and Denver. The present double portrait of an Indian mother and child likely dates from her time working in Taos. Gray is adept at capturing the mother's weariness and the typical unblinking stare of the infant child. The woman's decorated and fringed shawl, with its bold turquoise color, enlivens the scene. Although the figures do not make eye contact, their connection is sweetly captured in the tender touch the mother gives her child's hand.