Available records indicate that this work was first exhibited in late 1921 at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati in a show titled Indian Paintings. It was listed as #26 out of 43 works shown.

Another similarly posed work that seems to be related in theme, pose and models, is thought to have been painted at this time, Pipe Song. (see related image, #511)

Making Sweet Grass Medicine

Alternate Title:

Sweet Grass Medicine; [Making Sweet Grass Medicine, Blackfoot Ceremony]

Record ID: 244

Date: 1921; [1920]

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions: 30 x 36 1/8 in.

Signature / Inscription: LR: J.H.SHARP.

Owner: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

Accession Number: 1985.66.362.160

Provenance:

The artist; Victor Justice Evans, Washington, DC; present owner by bequest

Created concurrently with Peter Hassrick's 2018 Whitney West publication The Life & Art of Joseph Henry Sharp, this online catalogue highlights more than 700 works by J.H. Sharp that are held in public collections.

Making Sweet Grass Medicine

Related

Ceremonial Song for the Return of the Buffalo (1923)

Pipe Song (ca. 1921)

Jerry, with Apache Bow and Arrows?; [Testing the Shaft]

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