Cheyenne Camp

Additional Information

Provenance:
Kirk Family (Kirk Trading Post, Gallup, NM), circa 1943
Ed and Carol Stanke, Santa Fe, NM, by descent
Forrest and Peggy Fenn, circa 2002
From above by descent

Literature:
Teepee Smoke: A New Look Into the Life and Work of Joseph Henry Sharp, Forrest Fenn, One Horse Land & Cattle Co., Santa Fe, NM, 2007: p. 39.

Originally sold in 1943 (for $400) by the artist to the family that owned the Kirk Trading Post in Gallup, New Mexico, Joseph Henry Sharp’s Cheyenne Camp is a remarkable example from his winter sojourns to the Crow Agency in Montana. Sharp had set up a year-round studio in Montana, dubbed Absarokee Hut, but spent most winters in Montana and summers in Taos. Asked why he spent cold months in a climate known for its frigid temperatures and summers in a desert town sweltering in the heat, Sharp’s explanation was based on his ability to get models: “At this season of the year [winter], the Indians [at Crow Agency] have more time for posing—which they are induced to do for a consideration of two dollars a sitting—and the snowy landscape, sage brush foothills, and winter foliage along the Little Big Horn River are more paintable.”

“The ability to live on the reservation year-round opened up new possibilities for the artist. Sharp was able to paint during the winter, producing landscapes with the subdued tonalities of gray skies and the softening effect of snow blanketing the natural forms. It also gave him more occasions for portraying traditional patterns of Indian life,” writes Sarah Boehme in The Life and Art of Joseph Henry Sharp. “He wrote of expanding his subject matter beyond portraiture: ‘Now that I have more time, I shall devote much of it to composition & pictures of the poetry & legends as well as the home life of the Indians at present!’”

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