JOSEPH HENRY SHARP (1859-1953)

The present work likely depicts Standing Deer, a favorite model of the artist whom he painted in at least twenty works. Standing Deer was also known more commonly as Lorenzo Martinez and served two terms as the Governor of Taos. Sharp first visited Taos in 1893 and purchase a home there in 1908. The local Pueblo community would inspire a lifetime’s work of portraits, genre scenes, landscapes and still lifes.