Lot Essay
Since his boyhood days, Joseph Henry Sharp was fascinated by the Native American Indians and their culture, probably first inspired by the stories of James Fenimore Cooper. Sharp wrote "Perhaps they attracted me as subjects to paint because of their important historical value as first Americans. There is something very intriguing about 'First Americans'." (quoted in P. J. Broder, Taos: A Painter's Dream, p. 38)
In 1883 Sharp made his first trip to the West travelling to Santa Fe and the neighboring pueblos, Arizona and finally up the Columbia River to Washington, all the while sketching and painting the Indians and observing their customs and rituals. Again after travel and study in Europe, Sharp made a second trip to the West in 1893 on a Harper's Weekly commission visiting the Taos Pueblo. Further training in Paris and subsequent teaching at the Art Academy of Cincinatti was followed by a trip in 1899 to Montana where Sharp spent every winter between 1901-1916.
Living and working among the Crow, Blackfeet and Sioux Indians, Sharp was immediately set on a mission to record the traditions and ceremonies of the Plains Indians, whom he believed were dwindling at a faster rate than the more grounded and established Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. Proceeding like an historian and ethnologist, Sharp amassed an extensive collection of artifacts and native clothing which he used as pictorial props. Through careful observation and quiet reflection (facilitated by his deafness), Sharp was accepted by the Indians, gaining their respect and friendship. This close, heartfelt association with the Indians resulted in accurate and sympathetic images of the vanishing Plains culture.
Although he became a permanent resident of Taos in 1912 and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, Sharp continued to paint scenes of Plains Indian culture working mainly from memory but also from occasional sketching trips to the Dakotas and Montana. Despite Sharp's concern for ethnological accuracy which earlier gained him the name 'The Anthropologist', Sharp's pictures of Plains Indians subjects often depict Pueblo Indian models, as may be the case with Indians by the Fire.
Indians by the Fire depicting three Plains Indians around a glowing fire epitomizes Sharp's Indian genre scenes. Dressed in beautifully beaded clothes, mocassins and a feathered headress (to his side), the main figure, presumably a recognized chief, holds a long pipe and points ambiguously towards the fire. While keeping the attention of the two others, the chief instills a sense of silence and order within the tepee. In addition to capturing the wonderfully romantic effects of the glowing firelight, Sharp has created a moment of intense contemplation evoking the affinity for gatherings and storytelling among the Native American cultures.
In 1883 Sharp made his first trip to the West travelling to Santa Fe and the neighboring pueblos, Arizona and finally up the Columbia River to Washington, all the while sketching and painting the Indians and observing their customs and rituals. Again after travel and study in Europe, Sharp made a second trip to the West in 1893 on a Harper's Weekly commission visiting the Taos Pueblo. Further training in Paris and subsequent teaching at the Art Academy of Cincinatti was followed by a trip in 1899 to Montana where Sharp spent every winter between 1901-1916.
Living and working among the Crow, Blackfeet and Sioux Indians, Sharp was immediately set on a mission to record the traditions and ceremonies of the Plains Indians, whom he believed were dwindling at a faster rate than the more grounded and established Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. Proceeding like an historian and ethnologist, Sharp amassed an extensive collection of artifacts and native clothing which he used as pictorial props. Through careful observation and quiet reflection (facilitated by his deafness), Sharp was accepted by the Indians, gaining their respect and friendship. This close, heartfelt association with the Indians resulted in accurate and sympathetic images of the vanishing Plains culture.
Although he became a permanent resident of Taos in 1912 and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, Sharp continued to paint scenes of Plains Indian culture working mainly from memory but also from occasional sketching trips to the Dakotas and Montana. Despite Sharp's concern for ethnological accuracy which earlier gained him the name 'The Anthropologist', Sharp's pictures of Plains Indians subjects often depict Pueblo Indian models, as may be the case with Indians by the Fire.
Indians by the Fire depicting three Plains Indians around a glowing fire epitomizes Sharp's Indian genre scenes. Dressed in beautifully beaded clothes, mocassins and a feathered headress (to his side), the main figure, presumably a recognized chief, holds a long pipe and points ambiguously towards the fire. While keeping the attention of the two others, the chief instills a sense of silence and order within the tepee. In addition to capturing the wonderfully romantic effects of the glowing firelight, Sharp has created a moment of intense contemplation evoking the affinity for gatherings and storytelling among the Native American cultures.