Artwork By R.C. Gorman

All artwork may have nicks, rips, marks, stains, divots, waviness, creases, and/or scratches.
This piece specifically has water damage and mildew.

The artist was born Rudolph Carl Gorman in 1931 in Chinle, Arizona. Chinle is near the geographic center of the Navajo Nation, the largest tract of land reserved for Native Americans in the United States. Raised in a hogan on the Navajo Reservation, R.C. Gorman became one of the Southwest's best known late 20th-century artists. His signature works were Navajo women in a variety of poses. Many have been fascinated by the fact that he, an Indian artist, became famous in the white man's world with some calling him the "Picasso of Indian artists". Of this kind of attention, he said: "I wish people would quit pushing my being Indian. The only time I was interviewed as If I were a normal person was by the Jewish Press in Tucson. It was the first time I felt international and almost white". Gorman was the son of Adele Katherine Brown and Carl Gorman - the renowned artist, teacher and Navajo Code Talker. Carl Gorman was the oldest of the original twenty-nine Navajos who volunteered to form a secret division of the Marine Corps. Carl recalls that "R.C. always carried a tablet and drew, wherever we were. We were dipping sheep once, and he got a little girl to model for him. A white man working with us saw the drawing, got me, and said, 'Look! Someday he's going to be a great artist.' As a boy, Gorman modeled animals and toys out of clay from the local swimming hole. Later he drew with charcoal on rocks. When he started school and discovered pencils, papers, and books, he began drawing with abandon. His first school, Chinle Public School, was a one-room structure heated with a wood stove. He recalled that his first work of art in school was a drawing of a naked woman; it brought spankings from both his teacher and his mother.

In 1943, Gorman enrolled in a Catholic boarding school on the Navajo reservation. In the fall of 1944 he switched to the Ganado Presbyterian Mission School. In the seventh grade, Gorman began selling his artwork to nurses and doctors at the mission school. After graduating in 1951, Gorman joined the Navy before entering college. The Navy did not deflect Gorman's need to draw. He sketched the girlfriends of his colleagues, collecting pocket change in exchange. At the Navy's Guam Territorial College and later at Arizona State College (Northern Arizona University) Gorman studied literature and creative writing, always with an emphasis or minor in art.

In the summer of 1956, he worked at Disneyland, where he dressed as a Native American and paddled a canoe. In 1958, he received the first scholarship from the Navajo Tribal Council to study outside of the United States, and enrolled in the art program at Mexico City College. There he learned of and was influenced by the work Diego Rivera. He later studied art at San Francisco State University, where he also worked as a model. R.C. worked as an artists' model for several university and private classes throughout the Bay area. This proved an invaluable experience in his training. While posing, he wasn't able to participate in the classes, or receive critiques from the instructors, but he listened, observed, and absorbed the knowledge of several masters.

The Navajo Tribal Council awarded Gorman a grant to attend Mexico City College in 1958, shortly after he returned to San Francisco. During that time he worked as a nude model. In the bay area, he worked in a post office branch in the evenings and painted during the day. Then came a pivotal event in Gorman's life: his discovery of Taos, New Mexico. It was love with at first sight. That year, 1964, Dorothy Brett agreed to handle Gorman's work and exhibited it at the Manchester Gallery on Ledoux Street. Gorman continued to make long trips, living and studying in San Francisco and Mexico City. During an important visit to Mexico City in 1966, Gorman did his first work in lithography under the tutelage of noted Mexican printmaker Jose Sanchez. Back in Taos, Gorman's shows continued to sell out. With his hard-earned money and a loan from his parents, Gorman bought the Manchester Gallery and opened the Navajo Gallery, the first Native American-owned gallery. The Navajo Gallery held its first group exhibition in May 1969. The gallery roster included Patrick Swazo Hinds, Robert Draper, Al Momaday, Helen Hardin, Pablita Velarde, Charles Lovato, Cynthia Bissell, Dorothy Brett, and R.C.'s father, Carl Gorman.

R.C. Gorman passed away on November 3, 2005 at 12:20 pm MST at the age of 74 in Albuquerque's University Hospital of pneumonia related to a blood infection. New Mexico's Governor, Bill Richardson, ordered that flags be flown at half-mast in Gorman's honor. During his lifetime R.C Gorman was honored in important and unusual ways, including an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, College of Ganado, Ganado, Arizona (1978), R. C. Gorman Day, State of New Mexico (January 8, 1979), Doctorate of Humane Letters, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, New Mexico (1980), R. C. Gorman Day, San Francisco, California (March 18, 1986), Humanitarian Award in Fine Art, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (May 1986), New Mexico's Governor's Award of Excellence (1988), Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona (1995), Honorary United Nations 50-year Chairman for New Mexico (1995), A Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars (2002) . Harvard University recognized Gorman for notable contributions to American art and Native American culture. Gorman was the only living artist included in Masterworks from the Museum of the American Indian, a 1973 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan bought both Gorman drawings included in the exhibition, and the New York Times dubbed Gorman "the Picasso of American Indian art."

Gorman's sensitive approach to human form, natural gifts, and outrageous and extravagant imagination made him one of the most influential and fascinating artists of his time. Out-glitzing the likes of Andy Warhol, Gorman turned brilliance into a commodity--often at the cost of his original raw and striking talent, and at the risk of compromising his place in the history of art.

This exhibition focuses on the years prior to Gorman's commercial success, when - as Gorman stated - "Even when I wasn't making any money, I just knew it was all there. I always believed in myself."

Women, particularly his maternal grandmother, were primary influences and remain the focus of most of his paintings and prints. She spent much time with him during his childhood, and they herded sheep together, and he often drew on the rocks. His mother, who had been sent away to government schools, directed him more towards the Anglo world and spoke to him only in English.

In the 1970s, he became a nationally known artist, and visitors to the Southwest were taking his work to all parts of the country. He also opened a gallery in Tubac, Arizona, about 40 miles south of Tucson, and conducted numerous workshops. During that decade, he first experimented with lithography, studying with Jose Sanchez in Mexico City. He did etchings, silk screen, sculpture, and ceramics and also began his pastel, watercolor wash full-bodied Indian women that became his trademark. Of this subject matter, he said: "I choose models who have full bodies--something you can put your two arms around and feel a real woman. I like the ample figure because it fills space softly"

His daily work schedule has been one of arriving at his studio about 8:30 AM, working intensely, eating a long lunch with a glass of wine, returning to work for an hour or so, and then disappearing until the next day.

His private celebrity collectors include Erma Bombeck, Former Senator Barry Goldwater, David Hartman, Martha Hyer, Lee Marvin, Gregory Peck, and Ruth Warwick.

Those who knew him, will always remember his humor, his personality and his beautiful artwork. New Mexico Cultural Affairs Secretary Stuart Ashman said that "Gorman will be remembered as one of the greatest Native American artists." He was charming, flamboyant, and fascinating. He had spent most of his adult life in Taos, New Mexico where he lived, worked, and is now buried in the cemetery on his property near his home in Taos.

***Please look at the attached photos for size and condition. Photos are part of the description representing the condition report and can be used for authentication prior to the sale date. We urge bidder's to view all attached photos in detail. All items are sold "AS IS". Thank you for your interest and good luck bidding.

Notes: Please inspect all photos carefully before bidding. Thank you for your interest and good luck bidding.

28.75" x 32.5"

18%

Mike Marsullo | (860) 997-3332 | fil14fy@gmail.com

Pickup Details

Private Residence

Torrington, CT 06790

When to Pickup

Saturday, 8/13, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm

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