Sharp began painting among the Sioux in 1900. This painting, along with five other portraits of Flat Iron, was exhibited at the Cincinnati Museum in 1900 and was displayed as a profile portrait in the Pan-American Exposition in 1901. The Smithsonian Institution’s director, William Henry Holmes, purchased this version from Sharp’s subsequent Cosmos Club show, Exhibition of Indian Portraits Painted from Life in 1901. There were a total of six portraits of this favorite Sioux model in that display.
For a discussion of a later version of Flat Iron, see entry # 208.
Chief Flat Iron
Record ID: 217
Date: ca. 1900; [1898-1899]
Medium: oil on paperboard
Dimensions: 9 1/4 x 6 1/8 in.
Signature / Inscription: LL: J.H.SHARP
Owner: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
Accession Number: 1985.66.325,172
Provenance:
The artist; Dr. William Henry Holmes, Washington, DC, 1901; present owner by gift
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