2017 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 120126 / 306  •  View Catalog  •   • 

120
Joseph Henry Sharp (1859 – 1953)
Chief Bull Child – Blackfeet (1905)
oil on canvas
18 × 12 inches
signed and dated lower right

According to Blackfeet historian, Adolf Hungry Wolf, “Bull Child was born around 1840 and lived until 1908. He was once a fearless warrior, according to others of his generation, but he gave up his warrior ways sometime before the end of the old days, preferring to concentrate on his ceremonial work instead...He had such faith in his spiritual powers that he never hesitated to assist those who came to write down stories and ways of the Pikunni. He was friend and contributor to all the early recorders: Schultz, Grinnell, McClintock, Curtis and Wissler.

“Bull Child was one of the leading Medicine Men, or holy men, among the Pikunni in the early reservation period of the 1880s. He was a noted herbalist and doctor, a Weather Dancer in the Sun Dance, and skilled leader of the Thunder Medicine Pipe ceremonies.”

EXHIBITED
Joseph Henry Sharp and the Lure of the West, C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MT, circa 1970s
Indian Paintings by Joseph Sharp, Kennedy Galleries, New York, NY, October 1976

LITERATURE
Catalog, Joseph Henry Sharp and the Lure of the West (Great Falls, MT: C.M. Russell Museum), p 20, illustrated
Catalog, Indian Paintings by Joseph Sharp (New York, NY: Kennedy Galleries, October 1976), p 6, illustrated

120

Joseph Henry Sharp

1859 – 1953

Chief Bull Child – Blackfeet (1905)
oil on canvas
18 × 12 inches
signed and dated lower right
Sold at Auction: $101,150
Condition ReportSurface condition is excellent. Several spots of inpainting throughout.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.