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Lot Essay
Considered by many to be the 'father of the Taos art colony,' Joseph Henry Sharp is celebrated for his detailed and extensive depictions of the dozens of tribes of the Southwestern and Plains Indians. Born in Ohio in 1859, Sharp attended the Cincinnati Art Academy, where he met fellow artist Henry Farny. In 1893, encouraged by Farny, Sharp first visited Taos and the Pueblo Indians there. His experiences and illustrations from the trip, later published in Harper's Weekly, formed the basis of a career devoted to the American landscape and the native people who lived there. Drenched in blazing Southwestern sunlight, Sharp’s An Insurgent presents a masterful multi-figural Taos scene suspended in a moment of impending drama.
Of Sharp’s dynamic scenes such as the present example, an early article in The Cincinnati Enquirer described, "None other than Mr. Sharp can paint with such vividness or authority these picturesque Southwest Indians. In his pictures this Indian note which occurs repeatedly becomes a signature: his treatment, so distinctly his own, is never forced; it makes all things fit consistently into his compositions. He delights in painting landscapes and he introduces them again and again into his Indian pieces, and when a canvas may be filled with a fine extended view often a glimpse of a group of Indians wrapped in their blankets may triumphantly creep in …there the light envelopes all in a conquering embrace and the Indian remains but an incident in the landscape." (November 26, 1933) Indeed, An Insurgent captures the dramatic contrast of light and shadow over the unique topography of the New Mexican landscape, while his figures congregate in a contemplative moment. Though the title suggests a brewing conflict, Sharp’s peaceful and sympathetic portrayal of his figures defines his celebrated depictions of Native American life.
Of Sharp’s dynamic scenes such as the present example, an early article in The Cincinnati Enquirer described, "None other than Mr. Sharp can paint with such vividness or authority these picturesque Southwest Indians. In his pictures this Indian note which occurs repeatedly becomes a signature: his treatment, so distinctly his own, is never forced; it makes all things fit consistently into his compositions. He delights in painting landscapes and he introduces them again and again into his Indian pieces, and when a canvas may be filled with a fine extended view often a glimpse of a group of Indians wrapped in their blankets may triumphantly creep in …there the light envelopes all in a conquering embrace and the Indian remains but an incident in the landscape." (November 26, 1933) Indeed, An Insurgent captures the dramatic contrast of light and shadow over the unique topography of the New Mexican landscape, while his figures congregate in a contemplative moment. Though the title suggests a brewing conflict, Sharp’s peaceful and sympathetic portrayal of his figures defines his celebrated depictions of Native American life.