Joseph Henry Sharp
1859-1953
White Weasel, Taos Scout
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS: 16 1/2 x 12 1/4 inches
Signed lower left
SOLD FOR: $ 64,350
Including Buyers Premium
2018,
LOT 216
Additional Information
Sharp often painted White Weasel, even at times bribing him to don Plains Indian garb–something this proud Taos Indian was understandably loathe to do. This firelit portrait, White Weasel, Taos Scout seems straightforward–though I am not sure about the beaded necklace. What interests Sharp, and the viewer, is the play of warm light on the surfaces of the figure: the folds of his shirt, the braids in his hair, the planes of his face. White Weasel stares into the middle distance, thinking rather than looking, and the shadow on the wall behind him, which would be flickering if we were there, looms like a ghost or memory.