HARLEY BROWN (Canadian/American, b. 1939). Black Eagle, Assiniboine, 1981. Pastel on paper. 40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 76.2...

Description

HARLEY BROWN (Canadian/American, b. 1939)
Black Eagle, Assiniboine, 1981
Pastel on paper
40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
Titled, signed, and dated lower left: Black Eagle / Assiniboine / Harley Brown / after Curtis ©1981

PROVENANCE:
Altermann Galleries, Santa Fe (label verso).

Harely Brown's career as a portrait painter began on an auspicious note. Following his attendance at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the Camberwell School of Art in London, England, he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill. That commission led to several others in the political and entertainment fields. However, it is his sensitive and evocative portraits of Native Americans that have led to his greatest fame. Primarily working in pastels, Brown has specialized in western subjects since the mid 1970s. He was invited by Robert Lougheed to participate in the National Academy of Western Artists exhibit (the forerunner of the current Prix de West exhibition) at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City and won a gold medal for drawings in his very first year. Lougheed became a trusted friend and mentor, and Brown credits his sometimes tough criticism as a major factor in his development as an artist. Brown is fascinated with the many nuances in the faces of his subjects. He says that he could paint the same sitter on numerous occasions and still present a fresh interpretation since the each person's face constantly changes.

In Portrait of an Indian and Black Eagle, his skill at capturing the personalities of his subjects is on full display. Both of these portraits reveal the inner depths of their subjects. Their life stories and experiences are caught with great sensitivity and insight. Black Eagle is particularly important because of its size. Brown rarely works in this large a format. Like all of his works, these two riveting portraits reflect both the artist's talent in capturing the details of each face, but also the lives of the men they portray.



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