Do-Ree-Tah

Joseph Henry Sharp, Do-Ree-Tah, 1900, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1985.66.209,418
Copied Joseph Henry Sharp, Do-Ree-Tah, 1900, oil on paperboard, 13 589 58 in. (34.524.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1985.66.209,418

Artwork Details

Title
Do-Ree-Tah
Date
1900
Dimensions
13 589 58 in. (34.524.6 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on paperboard
Classifications
Keywords
  • Indian — Pueblo
Object Number
1985.66.209,418

Artwork Description

Joseph Henry Sharp painted Do-Ree-Tah from life at his summer studio in Taos, New Mexico. She was a Pueblo Indian, and Sharp later explained that her headdress marked her as unmarried. (Letter from Sharp to Mr. Ewers, Taos, New Mexico, August 8, 1948) In 1898, Sharp was one of the first artists to set up a studio in Taos, where he persuaded his sitters to dress in clothing from his own collection of native artifacts. Art critics praised Sharp for his ability “to assemble around his subjects authentic paraphernalia, which gives the true atmosphere of their romantic past.” In this portrait the spare background and broad brushwork focus our attention on the girl’s facial features. Sharp also eliminated any props that might hint at the modern world in which his models existed. (Watkins, “Painting the American Indian at the Turn of the Century: Joseph Henry Sharp and His Patrons, William H. Holmes, Phoebe A. Hearst, and Joseph G. Butler, Jr.,” PhD diss., 2000)