Sharp knew Big Medicine as the Crow Chief of Police.
Butler purchased this painting in October, 1900 from his exhibition, Indian Portraits, at the Cincinnati Museum (sales ledgers, Sharp Papers) Another version was exhibited in Washington, DC at the Cosmos Club in 1901. In the mid-teens, Sharp painted a view of Big Medicine’s Camp and exhibited it at the Hotel Gibson galleries in Cincinnati in January 1916. (whereabouts unknown)
Chief Big Medicine
Alternate Title:
Big Medicine, Crow; Chief Big Medicine — now Chief of Police
Record ID: 328
Date: 1900
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 18 x 12 in.
Signature / Inscription: UR: CHIEF BIG MEDICINE / CROW. LR: J.H.DHARP. 1900
Owner: Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
Accession Number: 913-O-515
Provenance:
The artist; Joseph G. Butler, Jr., Youngstown, OH, 1900; present owner by gift, 1913