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

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.

Chief Flat Iron

Related

Chief Flat Iron - Sioux

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