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Lot Essay
Appeal to the Great Spirit is the fourth and final installment in Cyrus Edwin Dallin’s important group of monumental Native American Bronzes. The series is comprised of his iconic subjects The Signal of Peace, The Medicine Man, The Protest and the present model. As Patricia J. Broder describes, “Dallin’s cycle of the American Indian was one of the most important contributions to Western Bronze sculpture.” Here, “The Indian sits on his horse, his arms outstretched and his head thrown backward, searching the heavens for a signal of deliverance. His horse stands motionless. Both man and horse exhibit a sense of stoicism and dignity...the simplicity of Dallin’s approach adds to the dramatic strength of the work.” (Bronzes of the American West, New York, 1973, p. 98) Appeal to the Great Spirit characterizes Dallin’s commitment to spiritual and heroic depictions of the Native American. First realized in monumental scale, this 40-inch version is a rare larger reduction created in an edition of only 9 casts.
Dallin's first concept for Appeal to the Great Spirit was executed in plaster in 1907 and exhibited at the National Sculpture Society Exhibition in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1908. The life-sized bronze was cast by E. Gruet & Company and exhibited at the 1909 Paris Salon, where it was awarded a gold medal, and has stood prominently at the entrance to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 1912. Appeal to the Great Spirit quickly became the artist's most recognizable and celebrated model. The present example was cast by Gorham Co. Founders, who produced around four hundred authorized reductions of the work in three different sizes between 1916 and 1947. The majority are smaller reductions: 109 casts in approximately 22-inch scale and 285 in approximately 9-inch scale. Another cast of the present 40-inch size, only cast in an edition of 9, is in the collection of the Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire.
According to Rell G. Francis, “The mounted Sioux chief, defeated in battle and in negotiations with the white man, now seeks divine assistance from the Great Spirit who rules the universe...This life-size equestrian...was once almost as well known as the Statue of Liberty.” (Cyrus E. Dallin: Let Justice Be Done, Springville, Utah, 1976, p. 44) A testament to the artist’s ability to imbue his work with a strong sense of emotion, Dallin’s Appeal to the Great Spirit emanates a quiet dignity in the face of defeat.
Dallin's first concept for Appeal to the Great Spirit was executed in plaster in 1907 and exhibited at the National Sculpture Society Exhibition in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1908. The life-sized bronze was cast by E. Gruet & Company and exhibited at the 1909 Paris Salon, where it was awarded a gold medal, and has stood prominently at the entrance to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 1912. Appeal to the Great Spirit quickly became the artist's most recognizable and celebrated model. The present example was cast by Gorham Co. Founders, who produced around four hundred authorized reductions of the work in three different sizes between 1916 and 1947. The majority are smaller reductions: 109 casts in approximately 22-inch scale and 285 in approximately 9-inch scale. Another cast of the present 40-inch size, only cast in an edition of 9, is in the collection of the Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire.
According to Rell G. Francis, “The mounted Sioux chief, defeated in battle and in negotiations with the white man, now seeks divine assistance from the Great Spirit who rules the universe...This life-size equestrian...was once almost as well known as the Statue of Liberty.” (Cyrus E. Dallin: Let Justice Be Done, Springville, Utah, 1976, p. 44) A testament to the artist’s ability to imbue his work with a strong sense of emotion, Dallin’s Appeal to the Great Spirit emanates a quiet dignity in the face of defeat.