Seeing Native American Object Text

Henry Francois Farny, French born (1847-1916)The Hunting Party, 1901watercolor and gouache on paper

Bill and Irma Runyon Art Collection, 988.001.0148

Farny frequently depicted scenes before, during or after a hunt in Taos. These compositions often featured the subjects concentrated within one third of the painting; here we are focused in the immediate foreground. A figure tends to the horses as the remainder of the group warms themselves by fire. Farny produced

several versions of similar scenes throughout his career, always at varying times of the day. This scene appears to take place at dusk and uses the sharp contrast of the orange sky and ebony trees to draw your eye forward to the trio of figures.

Henry F. Farny (right) with Frank Duveneck (center) and Frank Dengler (left), 1874; unknown photographer; Courtesy of the Archives of American Art

Henry Francois Farny, French born (1847-1916)Cheyennes,1893gouache on paper


French born and American raised, Farny studied at both the Munich and Düsseldorf schools of fine arts in the late 1860s. He was influenced by the style of the schools (“drab realism”) upon returning home to the United States and continued to use both the color palettes and snapshot-like quality in composition within his works depicting the native peoples. Here, we see a brief pause for conversation between members of the Cheyenne in between the activities of the day. We can see the outline of a small village in the background against a cloudless sky.

Henry Francois Farny, French born (1847-1916)Indian with Pony, 1902gouache on paper


A common place composition within the genre of western artists’ portrayal of native peoples is the subject of man and horse; or in this case “Indian with Pony.” It is as if the artist asked his subject to take a break from the day to pose for him, highlighting both the subject’s relationship with his animal and the landscape itself. Colors are muted and the mountains in the background appear to be almost hazy. Man and pony remain in sharp focus, painted in the darkest colors allowed by gouache’s often dusty palette.

Oscar Edmund Berninghaus, American (1874-1952)The Chase, 1899enamel on porcelain


Bernighaus abandoned his formal education at the age of sixteen and instead took a job with a lithography company to explore his interest in art. He attended night classes at the School of Fine Arts at Washington University in St. Louis and sketched and painted in his spare time. Berninghaus was a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists along with his friend Bert Philips. Native American culture and western landscape were popular subjects; the color is soft and muted with careful use of black and white as seen in The Chase. Berninghaus’ style was realistic and often featured a vast expanse of landscape with only slivers of sky escaping in the background.

Founders of the Taos Society of Artists at the Couse house, ca. 1915: Joseph Henry Sharp, Ernest L. Blumenschein, W. Herbert (Buck) Dunton, E.I. Couse, Bert G. Phillips, Oscar E. Berninghaus Courtesy of the Couse Foundation

Joseph Henry Sharp, American (1859-1953)Chiz Chile, Navajo, 1904oil on canvas


Considered to be the “spiritual father” of Taos Society of Artists, Sharp was the first painter of the group to visit New Mexico. His work provided a cultural record of Native American life, landscapes, and portraiture. All at once poetic and steeped in deep nostalgia, Sharp’s work captured the vanishing culture of the Native American as well as the Old West at a time when western

expansion was prevalent. Sharp often used bold color and outline, which added a

graphic quality to his works which were rooted in realism. Contrast between subject and background(s) were often stark, as seen here in Sharp’s portrait of Chiz Chile, which was probably created on the Crow Reservation in Montana a few years before Sharp settled on Taos as career’s subject.

Joseph Henry Sharp, c. 1910; unknown photographer; Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institute Archives

Joseph Henry Sharp, American (1859-1953)Crucita and Hunting Son, Taos, early 20th centuryoil on canvas


Sharp’s work has a story-like quality which often times appears candid in nature as seen in Crucita and Hunting Son, Taos. One is unsure whether Crucita is seeing her boy off or welcoming him home. Regardless, the subjects seem unaware of their capture and are solemn in expression. This emotionally evocative composition was characteristic of both Sharp’s work and that of his fellow members of the Taos Society of Artists in New Mexico at the turn of the 20th century. The color palette here is sparse of black for this artist and perfectly represents the colors of the sun-dappled spring season amongst the Rockies in Taos.

Joseph Henry Sharp, American (1859-1953)"Julia Sun-Goes-Slow" Crow Girl, early 20th centuryoil on board


Sharp maintained a studio near the Crow Reservation in Montana around 1902 and painted several portraits of the girls of the reservation in traditional garb. Like other portraits from this period, the composition is simple and contrasting of color. This Ohio born artist moved to Europe in 1871 and spent two years at the Antwerp Academy studying in realist tradition, history painting, and portraiture. The Crow Indian Reservation is the largest of the seven Indian reservations in Montana and is located in the south-central part of the state, bordered by Wyoming to the south and the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation to the east.

Joseph Henry Sharp, American (1859-1953)Untitled (Winter Camp on the Little Big Horn River), late 19th centuryoil on board


Rare were the paintings done by Sharp of pure landscape, here we see a few tiny figures scattered throughout the wintry white scene. The banks of the Little Big Horn River are barren save the yellowed brush that remains after snow. This scene leads us through it by the mouth of the not frozen river and entices us to pause for a moment on each figure tasked with camp maintenance.

E. Irving Couse, American (1866-1936)Ben Couse Lujan and Children, late 19th- early 20th-centuryoil on canvas


As a child, Couse drew members of the Chippewa tribe who lived near his home in Saginaw, Michigan. He studied formally at the Art institute of Chicago and the National Academy of Design in New York. Couse lived in France for a decade, painting mostly Normandy landscape and from 1893-1896 lived in a French art colony. After returning to the states, Couse settled in New York and spent summers in Taos, New Mexico, painting the landscape and its peoples. His style is realistic in nature with soft color offset by the dark hair and features of his favorite subjects. His work often maintained sharp contrast between light and shadow in both interiors and landscape scenes alike as seen in the riverbank picture, Ben Couse Lujan and Children.

E. Irving Couse, seated; unknown date Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

E. Irving Couse, American (1866-1936)Two Little Indians, n.d.oil on canvas


Couse often created portraits of native children as seen here in Two Little Indians. These works evoke a characteristic sentimental quality with their use of dusty bold color and simple composition. Couse was a family man himself and brought his children and grandchildren to Taos, New Mexico, in the summers. There he maintained a home and studio space as well as a miniature pueblo structure (known as “the playhouse”) for his granddaughter, Elizabeth. This “hobbit-house” was hidden from plain site and was accessible via an unsuspecting closet door in the Couse home.

The exterior of the Couse grandchildren’s playhouse Courtesy of the Couse Foundation

Joseph Henry Sharp, American (1859-1953)White Paint Mountain (Old War Chief), c. 1920oil on canvas


In this intimate interior, Sharp depicts a War Chief at rest. The figure is in an informal, seated position and is lit by firelight. Darker in overall tone than a typical work by Sharp, this piece compensates with rich burnt oranges and painterly texture in the background of the painting; the chief himself is dressed in traditional clothing. Typically chief figures, within Native American cultures, are shown in much more formal circumstances; whether in action or posing for a portrait as seen in the photograph here. White Paint Mountain offers the viewer an alternative representation with its irregular and compelling composition.

Chief Medicine Crow, c. 1880Courtesy of Charles Milton Bell

Joseph Henry Sharp, American (1859-1953)Dance Chief and Slackers, 1921oil on canvas


Taos, New Mexico, was attractive to the artists who settled there for summers and residence due to its “untouched” quality. The culture and landscape belonging to the peoples of the pueblo remained true through years of non-native’s expansion west.

Dance Chief and Slackers, shows us a candid scene between chief and dancers where the latter appear to be being reprimanded for their sloth. The casual clothing textiles imply that the group may have been rehearsing at the time. Pictured above is a turn of the century example of traditional Dance Chief garb. Characteristic of Sharp’s work, the color of the painting is saturated with color and makes use of contrast in its composition.

Big Tobacco, Dance Hall Chief, c. 1900 Courtesy of the US Geological Survey Archives

Frederic Remington, American (1861-1909)Modern Comanche, 1890oil on canvas


The man depicted by Frederic Remington in Modern Comanche exhibits an expression and posture of self-assured pride as he gazes into the rising sun, indicated by the pink and orange hues included in the painting’s sky. Remington was a prolific artist and was very well-known during his lifetime, but he sometimes struggled for credibility within the fine art community. Although he was a lifelong horseman and studied the work of pioneer equine photographer Edweard Muybridge, Remington never actually held a job as a cowboy. Some contemporaries of Remington and Charles M. Russell felt that Russell’s life in Montana and experience as a working cowboy gave him an edge that Remington did not have, making Russell the superior artist.

Frederic Remington, 1940 issueCourtesy of the US Post Office

John Hauser, American (1859-1913)Untitled (Indian with Horse), 1890gouache on paper


John Hauser often worked in gouache. Gouache is a paint similar to watercolor, but additives such as chalk are incorporated in color pigments as well as the binding agent, making the paint opaque. His work was greatly influenced by his Cincinnati contemporary, Henry F. Farny. His imagery sometimes seemed to mimic that of Farny. The man and horse

depicted in this portrait appear as a mismatched team. The man is smartly dressed and stands ramrod straight. He looks fresh and ready for any task ahead of him. His horse, however, appears rather gaunt, and his sagging head indicates fatigue, perhaps after a long day of work.

John Hauser, date unknownCourtesy of the John Hauser Project

John Hauser, American (1859-1913)In the Game Country, 1909gouache on board


Although he never officially relocated from his home base of Cincinnati, John Hauser made many trips to live among the Pueblo of the southwest and the Sioux of the northern plains. In fact, he was given the name “White Wings” by the Pueblo and the name “Straight White Shield” by the Sioux. Perhaps both of these are in reference to Hauser’s appearance when he walked around with a large canvas under each arm. In the Game Country depicts a group of Native Americans in a beautiful snowy setting. The fur hat and neck adornment worn by the man seated at the fire indicate that the group are members of the Omaha culture, whose federally protected lands have been located in northeastern Nebraska since the 1850s.

Joseph Henry Sharp, American (1859-1953)Untitled (Winter Camp on the Little Big Horn River), late 19th centuryoil on board


Rare were the paintings done by Sharp of pure landscape, here we see a few tiny figures scattered throughout the wintry white scene. The banks of the Little Big Horn River are barren save the yellowed brush that remains after snow. This scene leads us through it by the mouth of the not frozen river and entices us to pause for a moment on each figure tasked with camp maintenance.

William R. Leigh, American (1866-1955)The Sentinel, c. 1915oil on canvas


As he established his career as a commercial illustrator, William R. Leigh earned the nickname “Buttons and Shoestrings” because of the great detail he gave to figures. Although incredible attention to detail was one of Leigh’s trademarks, his works are more romantic than many who depicted related subjects. Individuality was a major theme in Leigh’s work and his imagery often depicts solitary figures completing relatively mundane, day-to-day tasks rather than those of action or battles. The Sentinel is an excellent example, with its solitary figure bundled against a cold night. A New York Evening World reviewer said the following of The

Sentinel in 1917:

The Sentinel is the least pretentious, one of the smallest, and done with the narrowest palette. It is of the night, almost a monotone of gray, but it has a kind of tenderness and a suggestion of feeling that is missing from the more presumptuous canvases.

William Robinson Leigh, date unknown; Courtesy of Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Smithsonian American Art museum J0010506

Charles M. Russell, American (1864-1926)Indian Scout, 1897oil on board


Charles M. Russell took many years to establish himself as a working artist. Once he found a market for his work he had a long and prolific career, living to the age of 62. Russell spent parts of each winter in California beginning in 1919, and he became a favorite artist of those involved in the early motion picture industry, including cowboy actor and humorist Will Rogers. Russell is known for his more compassionate interpretation of Native Americans. He lived in Montana for his entire adult life, and expressed disappointment in the disappearing way of life of the Native Americans of the High Plains. Indian Scout shows the popular motif of the “Noble Brave,” and highlights Russell’s strength at painting the fine details of man and horse, even though he never received formal art training.

Portrait of Russell seated in front of a painting, c. 1900; Courtesy of the Archives of American Art, Charles Scribner’s Sons

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