AN APPLIED ENAMEL-ON-COPPER SAND PAINTING, by Peter Ostuni, from the First Class 'Navajo' Cocktail Lounge of the S.S. "Normandie", circa 1951, the rectangular panel applied with sand and decorated with a band of four stylized yei figures and Indian inspired motifs, enameled in vibrant colors of orange, red, yellow, blue, pink, white and black, the aluminum back marked repeatedly ALCOA with numbers and letters--42 x 63in. (106.7 x 160cm.)

Details

AN APPLIED ENAMEL-ON-COPPER SAND PAINTING, by Peter Ostuni, from the First Class 'Navajo' Cocktail Lounge of the S.S. "Normandie", circa 1951, the rectangular panel applied with sand and decorated with a band of four stylized yei figures and Indian inspired motifs, enameled in vibrant colors of orange, red, yellow, blue, pink, white and black, the aluminum back marked repeatedly ALCOA with numbers and letters--42 x 63in. (106.7 x 160cm.)

Literature

William H. Miller, Jr., The Fabulous Interiors of the Great Ocean Liners in Historic Photographs, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1985, p. 115 for an illustration of this panel in situ

Lot Essay

The First Class Cocktail Lounge of the S.S. 'United States', often times referred to as the Navajo Lounge, was located between the ballroom and a first-class foyer on the starboard outboard side of the ship. The most striking features of the room are the Navajo inspired sand paintings and the four portholes which overlooked the promenade deck. The panels, by Peter Ostuni, formed a frieze fifty feet long around the room and depicted interpretations of the ritual sand paintings of the Navajo Indians of the Southwest.

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