Nez Perces

  • This work is likely a study, perhaps begun in the field, for the Walters portrait of a Nez Perce Indian (CR# 298A). Here, Miller focused on capturing his sitter’s profile and his most prominent attributes—a nose ring and exaggerated earrings. Miller outlined the figure’s shoulders and chest with quick brushstrokes, but did not fully realize the lowest quadrant of the composition. Also unresolved is the subject’s right hand, visible in the lower left corner. It appears as though the artist sketched the hand, erased it, and then redrew it.

    Karen B. McWhorter

    Artist
    Alfred Jacob Miller
    Date
    Unknown
    Catalogue Number
    298
    Medium
    Watercolor, gouache, pen and ink, and graphite on paper
    Inscriptions

    LR: Nez Perces Indian

    Dimensions
    8 3/16 x 6 3/4 (20.8 x 17x15 cm)
    Accession Number
    0236.1017
    Subjects
    Indians

    The artist; [?]; present owner by gift