Lot 19
Joseph Henry Sharp(1859-1953)Crucita - Taos Indian Girl 13 3/4 x 9 3/4 in. framed 18 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.
26 April 2022, 13:00 PDT
Los AngelesSold for US$39,435 inc. premium
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Aaron Bastian
Director
Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953)
Crucita - Taos Indian Girl
signed 'J.H. SHARP' (lower right)
oil on canvasboard
13 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.
framed 18 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.
signed 'J.H. SHARP' (lower right)
oil on canvasboard
13 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.
framed 18 1/2 x 14 1/4 in.
Footnotes
Provenance
Mr. Clayton Aubra Dunham, Glencoe, Illinois.
Ackermann Fine Prints and Paintings, Chicago, Illinois.
Private collection, Utah.
Exhibited
Springville, Utah, Springville Museum of Art, The Taos Masters & Western Artists Exhibit, September 19 - October 26, 2004.
Salt Lake City, Utah, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Bierstadt to Warhol: American Indians in the West, February 15 – August 11, 2013.
Crucita was Joseph Henry Sharp's favorite female model, and she is featured in more than 60 of the artist's paintings. Sharp knew his sitters personally, and in the case of Crucita had a long friendship with the model. In his work depicting the Pueblo peoples, Sharp endeavored to record the details of their dress, features, and surroundings authentically in anthropologically minded compositions. He also attempted to impart the true nature of their emotions and personality in their portraits. Sharp often posed Crucita alone, as in the present work, but he also included her daughter Leaf Down in shared compositions.
In Crucita – Taos Indian Girl, the figure is painted in profile within an adobe interior. Crucita's distinct features are exquisitely outlined with natural light from a window out of the picture frame. She wears layers of traditional embellished clothing, a floral-decorated black belted one-shoulder dress is over a white under shirt, finished with a red flower-patterned shawl draped over her shoulders. Her rich black hair is styled with blunt cut bangs and sideburns in an upswept traditional chongo bun. Crucita is painted with an enigmatic expression as she patiently sits for Sharp while gazing toward the light source.
