Quinnah

Joseph Henry Sharp, Quinnah, 1902, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Victor Justice Evans, 1985.66.362,131
Joseph Henry Sharp, Quinnah, 1902, oil on canvas, 1812 14 in. (45.731.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Victor Justice Evans, 1985.66.362,131

Artwork Details

Title
Quinnah
Date
1902
Dimensions
1812 14 in. (45.731.0 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Victor Justice Evans
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Indian — Flathead
  • Portrait male — Quinnah — bust
Object Number
1985.66.362,131

Artwork Description

Joseph Henry Sharp painted almost two hundred portraits of Native Americans. Like many Europeans and Americans of the time, he placed people in racial categories according to their features. A Portland journalist wrote of Sharp’s portraits, “With the same perception, the artist seems to select the types that from the ethnologist’s standpoint, are nearest perfect.” (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). According to the artist, Quinnah was “a very strong type of young warrior [and] horse raider from [the] Crows . . .” (Sharp to Mr. Ewers, August 8, 1948).

Works by this artist (6 items)

Herbert Gentry, Meeting Series "B": Our Lives, 1988, mixed media on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Stanley Bard, 1989.76.1, © 1988, Herbert Gentry
Meeting Series B”: Our Lives
Date1988
mixed media on paper
Not on view
Herbert Gentry, Our City, 1998, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 2006.22.1, © 1998, Herbert Gentry
Our City
Date1998
acrylic on canvas
Not on view
Herbert Gentry, L'Homme Vert, 1993, color etching with metallic additions on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 2006.22.2, © 1993, Herbert Gentry
L’Homme Vert
Date1993
color etching with metallic additions on paper
Not on view
Herbert Gentry, Ici, 1985, lift ground and aquatint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Stanley Bard, 1989.76.3, © 1985, Herbert Gentry
Ici
Date1985
lift ground and aquatint on paper
Not on view