Hampton Institute Drawings - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

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Nº9 Battle Scene with Sitting Bull

Ethnographic Notes

“The three Indian man/ and one Sitting Bull/ Sitting Bull kill one Indian/ man” (Artist’s inscription, verso)

“This drawing depicts Sitting Bull (see also Nº16). Carrying his shield and feathered lance, Sitting Bull charges into a group of enemy warriors. One warrior, already wounded, has dropped his bow and quiver and is being carried off by a companion. A third warrior covers their retreat.

There are a number of traditional painting conventions in the drawing. A retreat is indicated by the tracks leading from the spot where the weapons were dropped to the figures retreating (see also Nº24). The single warrior shoots a single arrow, but several arrows surround the intended target, suggesting a compression of time. Finally, there is no placement of the action within a landscape context.” (p.27)

William S. Wierzbowski and Helen M. Mangelsdorf in Images of a Vanished Life: Plains Indian Drawing from the Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1985.


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Provenance

Drawings made in 1879 by students at the Hampton Institute, Virginia. Donated to the Pennsylvania Academy of ...

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Document Info
Plate No: 23
Page No: 1982_X_163
Media: Ink, colored pencil on cream tagboard
Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 11 in.
Custodian
Credit line: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.
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