2026 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction77 / 80 • View Catalog •
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An original handwritten letter from the artist will accompany the lot.
According to Sharp scholar Forrest Fenn, “Sharp was considered ‘Big Medicine’ and given freedom to roam the pueblo, observing ceremonies that few white men had ever seen; he was even permitted into the kivas, the sacred religious chambers where non-Indians are almost never allowed.
“Sharp’s friendships with the Pueblo Indians were lasting ones. One of those friends was Soaring Eagle, who was Sharp’s first Southwestern Indian model. Soaring Eagle prided himself on his hunting ability and took great pains to instruct his son, John Gomez, who learned quickly and developed a skill over the years that equaled that of his father. As a consequence, he was named ‘Hunting Son’ (Chúyah) and posed for his father’s old friend many times.’”
In a letter to the original owner the artist wrote, “His father was the first Indian I painted in Taos in 1893. He was a great hunter, guide & woodsman – took his son with him at an early age & he called him ‘Hunting Son’ for his ability & quick learning. I have painted him since a baby, his children, and his grand children next. He is principle in many of my important canvases and the head of one of the clans at the Pueblo now.”
PROVENANCE
The artist, ca. 1940
Clare H. Zachry Collection, Dallas, Texas
Present owner, by descent
LITERATURE
Forrest Fenn, The Beat of the Drum and the Whoop of the Dance: A Study of the Life and Work of Joseph Henry Sharp, Fenn Publishing Co., 1983, p. 337, listed
