Home » Catalogs » Joseph H. Henry Sharp Catalogue » Chief Little Wolf

Joseph H. Henry Sharp Catalogue

JH Sharp Catalogue banner
JH Sharp catalog banner image
Chief Little Wolf

Sharp began painting this man, Laban Little Wolf, and his fabled uncle, Little Wolf, when he first moved to Montana in 1899. Contrary to Sharp's inscription, this is not the man who participated in the Custer Battle.  That was his very famous uncle of the same name.

 

Over the next half dozen years, Sharp got Laban to sit for him multiple times, including one pose similar to this in 1900. (related image, #150)

 

Sharp painted Laban at least twice in 1906, this version and another that shared a companion portrait of Laban's wife, Willow Woman.  (see #s 68 and 419)

Chief Little Wolf

Record ID: 717

Date: 1906

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions:

17 3/8 x 11 1/2 in.

Signature / Inscription:

LR: J.H.SHARP / 06. Verso on canvas: Not for Sale. Verso on dust cover backing in Sharp's hand: CHIEF LITTLE WOLF / Painted at Lame Deer, Cheyenne Res'n / Montana / Was second in command / of all Cheyennes in Custer Battle -- / 1905-6

Owner: Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK

Accession Number: 1958.3.1


Provenance: The artist; [?]; Bailie W. Vinson; present owner by gift

Related

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.