Joseph Henry Sharp
Joseph Henry Sharp
Morning Greeting, 1882
Oil on Canvas
21 x 14 inches
Signed Lower Left
Joseph Henry Sharp was born in Bridgeport, Ohio on September 27, 1859. One of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists, he was known for his American Indian subjects. He began his study of art at the age of 14. He often made sketching trips out to the West for Harper’s Weekly. In 1901 Sharp was commissioned by the Crow Agency (of the U.S. Government) to build a studio in Montana and to make a visual record of the Indians who fought against General Custer. He completed over 200 portraits and photographed an additional 400 more. He split his time between teaching at the Cincinnati Art Academy, sketching in Taos, and painting on the plains. Sharp’s depictions of the Pueblo Indians engaged in cultural activities reflected his concern for the disappearing traditions of the Indian culture.
Studied
McMicken School of Design (1873); Cincinnati Art Academy; C. Verlat, in Antwerp (1881); von Marr at Munich Academy (1886); with Duveneck in Spain and Italy; Academie Julian, Paris with J.P. Laurens and Constant (1895-96)
Member
Taos SA; Cincinnati AC; Calif. AC; SC; Calif. PM; AFA; Society of Western Artists
Exhibited
PAFA Ann., 1891-1901; Paris Salon, 1896; NAD, 1897-98; Dept. Ethnology, Pan-Am. Expo, Buffalo, 1901 (medal); Cincinnati AC, 1901 (prize); Corcoran Gal biennials, 1907, 1928; Pan-Calif. Expo, San Diego, 1915 (gold), 1916 (gold); Calif. Art Exh., Pasadena AI, 1930 (prize); AIC; Taos SA, 1915-on; Cincinnati Art Mus., 1915-1930 (solo exhibitions)
Work
Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe; Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa; Univ. Calif; NMAA; Stark Museum of Art, Orange, TX; Butler Museum; Houston MFA; Phillips Museum, Bartesville, OK; Amon Carter Museum; Wyoming State Gal.; Herron AI; Cincinnati Art Museum; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; Houston MFA
References
WW47; P&H Samuels; Sotheby’s "The American West: the John F. Eulich Collection; Cincinnati Painters of the Golden Age; Eldredge, Art in New Mexico; Forbes, Encounters with Paradise; Fink, American Art at the Nineteenth-Century Paris Salons; 300 Years of American Art; Schimmel, Stark Museum of Art; Campbell, American Art Review "Toas Artists & Their Patrons; Falk, Exh. Record