Cherokee Man After a Hunt, Painting by Cecil Dick

This painting portrays a hunter with a bear draped over the back of his weary horse after a long hunt. Known for his thoughtful compositions, Cherokee artist Cecil Dick plays with repetition in this work, from the delicate leafless saplings in the foreground to the four ducks flying in opposition to the solitary hunting party.

The earthy tones and color combinations reflect Dorothy Dunn's observations of Dick's work, where she noted his "consistent originality" and praised his innovative approach to composition and color.  Dunn remarked in 1968, "Balance and rhythm control the ostensibly carefree action in his pictures, which are always fascinating. Conjured colors in combinations and application reminiscent of Gauguin produce excitement even in his simplest subjects, such as those from animal fables of the Cherokee."

The painting is signed Cecil Dick in the lower right corner, with the initials S S V S above, representing his name in the Cherokee alphabet.

Cecil Dick (1915-1992), also known as Dá-Ga-Dah-Ga Standing Alone, a native Cherokee speaker, was orphaned at 12 and raised in Indian boarding schools. An authority on Cherokee mythology and its written language, Dick attended the Santa Fe Indian School but rejected its flat painting style in favor of the Woodlands style, inspired by the landscapes of his childhood. In 1983, the Cherokee National Museum honored him with a 50-year retrospective, and he received the Cherokee Nation's highest honor, the Sequoyah Medal, becoming its third recipient.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Cherokee Man After a Hunt, Painting by Cecil Dick is from a collector of Native American art from Albuquerque, NM

Recommended Reading: American Indian Painting of the Southwest and Plains Areas by Dorothy Dunn, 1968

TAGS: Native American Paintings, Cherokee, Cecil Dick