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Teepee Smoke
Part 5: The Indians of the Northern Plains compelled by Joseph Henry Sharp to move to Crow Agency, Montana in 1905, but by 1908 Sharp was ready to settle in Taos and it was there Taos Society of Artists was founded.
Reprinted courtesy Western Art Collector
February 2008
J. H. Sharp, Voice of the Great Spirit, oil, 40 x 30”
COLLECTION SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM, WASHINGTON, D.C.
In 1905, Sharp began building a log cabin at Crow
Agency on government land near the confluence of
the Big Horn and Little Big Horn rivers, three miles
from the Custer Battlefield. Sharp was strongly drawn
to the Indian way of viewing life. As his identification
with it deepened, his compassion for all that the
Indian had suffered increased, and his obsession with
the Indians’ vanishing ways and values became at
times almost an obsession with death itself. Of all the
paintings of platform burials that Sharp produced while
at Crow Agency, the most famous, and perhaps most
important, was The Voice of the Great Spirit. Although
Sharp did not consider the painting one of his finest,
he did call it “the one that made me famous”. Today
the painting is part of the Smithsonian collection.
Sharp set up his old Crow teepee outside the Taos studo. Little Egypt is on the right. Note that
the painting is of a Montana teepee scene. Left to right are Bert Phillips, Soaring Eagle, Sharp,
Ernest Blumenschein and E.I. Couse.
PHOTO COURTESY BUFFALO BILL HISTORICAL CENTER, CODY, WY
Crow Agency was visited by a number of noted
Western artists and illustrators during those years.
Warren Rollings, Guzton Borglum, Bill Gollings, Ernest
Thompson Seton and certainly the most illustrious
artist to visit was Frederic Remington. A celebrity
whom Sharp frequently saw was the legendary Buffalo
Bill, for it was during these years that the famous scout
and buffalo hunter returned to the West to take up
residency.
But as time passed, Sharp began to consider settling
permanently in Taos, for although the colorful history
and stirring vitality of the Indians of the Northern
Plains was a strong lure, many of the old warriors
were now gone and the traditions of the past were
rapidly vanishing. From the beginning Sharp had
known that his time at Crow Agency was limited, and,
as the years passed, the models and paint became less
available and in the spring of 1908, he made plans for
a permanent move to Taos.
J. H. Sharp, The Medicine Teepee, oil, 22 x 40”
PHOTO COURTESY BUFFALO BILL HISTORICAL CENTER, CODY, WY
Europe was embroiled in war, but not in Taos, the
war was far away, a matter of newspaper reports and
involved discussions.
The artists were preoccupied not
with thundering cannons and bloody conflict, but with
the activities of the recently established Taos Society of
Artists. Founded in 1912, the Society had its first formal
meeting in 1915 at the home of Dr. T.P. Martin (now
the Taos Inn). Six artists gathered to form the group:
Joseph Henry Sharp, Bert Phillips, Ernest Blumenschein,
Oscar Berninghaus, Herbert Dunton, and Irving Couse. Walter Ufer and Victor Higgins would be
members in 1916; E. Martin Hennings
would join in 1921, Catherine Critcher in
1924, and Kenneth Adams in 1926.
The bylaws of the Society stated
that the purpose of the organization
was “to develop a high standard of art
among its members and to aid in the
diffusion of taste for art in general.” On
the practical side, the artists wanted to
organize traveling art shows. The elected
president had the burdensome task of
planning and organizing each exhibit,
arranging the crating and transportation
of the paintings from gallery to gallery,
and making sure the unsold work was
returned. Thus was a complex logistical
effort, but was accomplished efficiently
and with few problems while Couse, the
first president, was in office.
J. H. Sharp, Prayer to the Spirit
of the Buffalo,
oil, 30 x 40”
COLLECTION OF THE ROCKWELL
MUSEUM OF WESTERN
ART, CORNING NY, PHOTO
COURTESY BUFFALO BILL
HISTORICAL CENTER, CODY, WY
As the fame of the Society spread,
tourists and collectors came to Taos in
greater numbers. Art lovers must have
been intrigued by Sharp, whose home
and studio were filled with paintings,
artifacts, and antiques. Sharp lived and
worked in surroundings overflowing with
history. His Taos home had originally been an old dance hall, and he had
erected a custom-built privy that he called “Little Egypt”. The Penitente chapel was converted to a storeroom when his new studio was finished in 1915. Located
just southwest of his home, the new
studio was a two story structure with a
narrow, unguarded staircase that climbed
the west wall to a mezzanine, which
was enclosed by a log railing. Beside
a kiva fireplace in the south wall, he
fashioned a special window; the window
was round, but on the inside it had a
square frame, enabling him to show it
on his canvases as either round or square
to get the composition or feeling he
desired. The model’s platform could be
easily moved toward the window or the
fireplace, depending on whether sunlight
or firelight was appropriate.
There were hundreds of paintings to
be seen, and those that could not be
hung because of lack of space were
stacked along the walls. Rusty guns,
Indian baskets, headdresses, tomahawks,
and other artifacts cluttered the studio,
and finely woven Indian rugs and blankets
hung from the balcony.
J. H. Sharp, Evening Chant, oil, 29 x 36”
PHOTO COURTESY PHOEBE APPERSON HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Two attractions were of special interest.
One was the deerskin on which White
Swan had painted the story of his exploits
in battle. The second was a large buffalo
skin teepee, a relic Sharp had acquired
from the Crow Indians. He delighted in
the astonishment of children when they
saw the teepee that was, however, much
more than a tourist attraction. Sharp set
up the large teepee inside his studio.
While Indian models posed inside by a
blazing fire, Sharp painted the scene from
outside by looking through a small hole
that he had cut in the side of the teepee.
Because these scenes were frequently
painted on hot days, the normally peaceful
Indians sometimes became irritable and
occasionally downright angry, and could
be pacified only by the promise of more
pay. Such was the price Sharp paid for
authenticity.
Sharp points to an Indian artifact in his Taos studio.
PHOTO COURTESY BUFFALO BILL HISTORICAL CENTER, CODY, WY
Many of the Indians loved Sharp
dearly, almost always preferring to pose
for him than the other artist, and they
were greatly amused by one of his habits.
When working on a painting, Sharp
would dab some paint on the canvas,
then dance or hop backwards six or eight feet to view the result. The Indians who
often gathered in the studio thoug t this
was very funny and would laugh and
mimic him behind his back. Their actions
weren’t disrespectful, though; they were
instead a sign of acceptance and regard
for the artist.
Although he still loved to travel, Sharp
now found pleasure in the routine of
daily life, relishing in the comforts of
home, fairly predictable weather, and
the companionship of good friends. His routine began early in the morning when
he arose, and lacking the luxury of
modern plumbing and electricity, took
a sponge bath. Then he ate a light
breakfast and went to the studio. After
some moderate exercise, he painted
until about 1:00 p.m., and then took
a break for lunch and a short nap. On
days when he had errands to run, he
went off at a brisk pace, hurrying down
the narrow roads to complete the dozen
or so tasks on his list. Always dressed
on a felt hat, suit and vest, and heavy
shoes, he stopped here and there to
greet friends. As he read their remarks,
he sometimes threw his head back and
laughed heartily. Then with a few warm
nods and a twinkle in his eye, he was
on his way, usually in a hurry to finish
his business and return to his studio to
catch the day’s remaining light.
About Forrest Fenn:
Forrest Fenn grew up in the wilds
of Montana where he began finding
arrowheads and other small Indian
artifacts. His hobby developed into
a career of collecting, buying, selling
and trading not only artifacts but also
weapons, weavings and pots. The
collection grew, the reputation grew,
and the hobby grew into a business.
Forrest finally opened a trading post
that expanded to include sculpture
and paintings. The collector became a
dealer and he built a large, beautiful
gallery which included works by
Joseph Henry Sharp.
The images reproduced here are from the book
Teepee Smoke A New Look Into the Life and
Work of Joseph Henry Sharp originally published
in 1983 by One Horse Land & Cattle Co. with kind
permission Forrest Fenn. Copies of this book can be
purchased online at www.oldsantafetradingco.com
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