2022 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 154275 / 321  •  View Catalog  •   • 

154
Joseph Henry Sharp (1859 – 1953)
The Bonnet Maker
oil on canvas
14 × 18 inches
signed lower right

VERSO
Label, The Rees-Jones Collection, Dallas, Texas

According to Sharp biographer Forrest Fenn, “Always on the go and anxious to paint another Indian, Sharp thought nothing of renting a wagon and traveling as many as fifty miles to find new subjects. At times Addie [Sharp’s wife] accompanied him on these outings, but just as often he would travel alone, lost in the vast, beautiful, and still unspoiled country around him. On these occasions he was sometimes filled with a strange sorrow that his romanticized paintings reflected in tone and subject; he felt the deepest compassion for the Indians and for the passing of their era within the solemn, incomprehensible movement of history. It was probably this sensitivity, more than anything else, which was responsible for Sharp’s attention to detail. His portraits were praised almost as much for their ethnological value as for their artist merit, and within a short time Sharp gained wide recognition as a national authority on Indian culture.”

PROVENANCE
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, Reno, Nevada, 2008
Private collection, Scottsdale, Arizona

154

Joseph Henry Sharp

1859 – 1953

The Bonnet Maker
oil on canvas
14 × 18 inches
signed lower right
Sold at Auction: $60,000
Condition ReportSurface is in excellent condition. There are two specks of inpainting in the sky – to left of the trees – at the edge of the frame.

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.