162

VERSO
Signed and titled

Indians & Scenes of the Southwest and an original 1975 sales receipt from Denver Art Galleries will accompany the lot.

In Walking With Beauty, The Art and Life of Gerard Curtis Delano, Richard G. Bowman wrote, “Delano preferred personal encounters and on-site sketches over photography, and often painted in a frenzy of activity immediately after returning from such trips while his impressions were still vivid and fresh. He spoke and wrote about the Navajo with the same poetic simplicity and directness that were apparent in his paintings.

“In the Navajo, he saw dignity and beauty, a people in harmony with their land. They became his greatest source of influence, beginning with his first trip to Navajo land in 1943. He also probably painted Canyon de Chelly more than any other painter. During his life he became known as the painter of the Navajo, not by rendering exact detail and portraiture as later painters did, but by capturing the people in the context of their country. Land, sky, and earth were made simple, grand, and colorful: ‘designed realism.’”

PROVENANCE
Jack W. Bales, Longmont, CO, 1975
Present owner, by descent

LITERATURE
Gerard Curtis Delano, Indians & Scenes of the Southwest (Tustin, CA: Foster Art Service, Inc.), page 13, illustrated

Condition ReportSurface condition excellent with no signs of inpainting.

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.