White Grass, Blackfoot

or
[Judge Shorty White Grass]

Generously provided by Gilcrease Museum

As one of Sharp’s earlier Indian portraits, White Grass, Blackfoot provides interesting insight into how Sharp’s style of portrait painting shifted over the first decade of his established career. In an untitled newspaper section commenting on Philip Hale’s critical review of Sharp’s early portraits, one commenter states, “Of Henry Sharp’s 'Indians' he (Philip Hale) says: 'They are strongly handled. The character is forcibly rendered. The things impress one as being studied from nature.' Here he criticizes: 'But they are not artistic,' the critic says. 'They no doubt are interesting and will be even more so as historical documents. But from a painter’s standpoint they are rather tight and greasy looking in ‘facture.’ The last word I do not understand, but if the ‘Indians’ are greasy looking, Henry has hit them off in an artistic way.” (“Notes and Comments,” untitled newspaper, 1/19/1903, Sharp Papers) While the commenter does not agree with Hale that this “greasiness” is an issue, it is clear that Sharp’s earliest portraits often have a particular sheen to them (Record 135).

     This criticism came at a time when Sharp was experimenting with the effects of lighting in his portraits, a practice he absorbed throughout his training in Europe during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. In this specific portrait, the dramatic lighting to the viewer’s left causes what Hale described as the “tight and greasy” facial qualities. To a different viewer, however, this type of lighting could be seen as adding contrast and depth, making for a more interesting portrait.

     Sharp and Judge Shorty White Grass were close, as Sharp was with many of the Native American leaders he painted. In particular, though, Judge Shorty White Grass had a sense of humor. (see Notes) Sharp's friend, the photographer Walter McClintock, photographed Shorty White Grass in the same shirt that appears in the Sharp portrait in 1904 (related image 414a).

     Sharp held Judge Shorty White Grass in high regard, calling him the “Foremost chief of several generations” and expressed his attachment to the man by stating that “I still carry a piece from his medicine bag” in reference to a bag Judge Shorty White Grass’s family had given Sharp after he died.

Kelin Michael

Artist

Joseph Henry Sharp

Date

ca. 1902; [1898]

Catalogue Number

414

Medium

oil on canvas

Inscriptions

LL: J.H. SHARP.

Inscribed on notepaper glued to dust cover: "Judge Short White Grass, Blackfeet 1898 - Brother of the great Chief White Calf - Proud of his place in the Police Court, and real sense of humor. One 4th of July he said to me - This is a very fine holiday, and I would like to very much if you let me have two bits to get a little fruit for my children - His children were all grown & had children of their own. I compromised on 4 bits!

Penciled on top of frame on verso: Judge Shorty White Grass-Blkft."

Dimensions: 20 x 13 3/4 in.
Credit Line: Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK. Gift of the Thomas Gilcrease Foundation, 1955.
Accession Number: 0136.492
Subjects: Blackfeet, Judge, portrait

The artist; Thomas Gilcrease, Tulsa, OK; The Thomas Gilcrease Foundation, Tulsa, OK, 1955; present owner by gift

There are no known exhibition records for this work until 1949 when it was part of the Gilcrease Foundation's retrospective show and listed in the catalogue as White Grass, Blackfoot. The signature type suggests that this portrait was completed around 1902 which would be reasonable since Sharp did not visit the Blackfeet until 1901.

White Grass, Blackfoot

Related