Jim and His Daughter

Description

“The man who makes himself the [Jean-François] Millet of the Indian, who paints him just as he is, as he works, as he lives, will strike the lasting note.” Chicago’s mayor, Carter H. Harrison, Jr., gave this advice to Walter Ufer during the artist’s first summer in New Mexico in 1914, suggesting that he should not, for example, rehash romantic interpretations of Native American life. The artist took Harrison’s advice and depicted the lives and work of contemporary Native Americans, including Ufer’s favorite sitter and close friend, Jim, shown here in profile with his daughter.

Jim and His Daughter

Walter Ufer

1923

Accession Number

87440

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

77.5 × 64.1 cm (30 1/2 × 25 1/4 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Howard Ellis