Original Small Painting of “Shiprock” [R]

Willard Page moved from his home state of Kansas to Boulder, Colorado, sometime around the 1920s. He traveled throughout the west, sketching small landscape scenes. His intimate paintings of majestic views were popular with tourists as souvenirs and were easy to carry home. He wandered through New Mexico, Texas and Arizona, camping and painting.

This small painting of Shiprock is signed WP at lower right, and titled in the artistt’s hand on verso. It is framed in the original frame.

Condition: There is a stain—unidentified at the present—to the right of the Shiprock formation, and some minor loss of paint in the clouds. Overall, the piece is in very good condition.

Shiprock, located in northwestern New Mexico, is a most impressive example of a volcanic neck, or a central feeder pipe. The remnant of an eruption around 30 million years ago during the Oligocene, it is the basalt core of an extinct volcano. Near the main peak, one can see small pinnacles, the remains of smaller auxiliary volcanic vents. When the magma solidifies before ever reaching the surface, it is referred to as a “diatreme.” The local Navajos (Diné) consider it sacred, being a main character in their folklore. They call it Tse Bitai, meaning “the winged rock.” The central part of Shiprock, visible from many kilometers away, is roughly 500 meters in diameter. Stretching 600 meters into the sky above the surrounding terrain, Shiprock is part of both the Navajo and Chuska volcanic fields in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, extending north into Utah and Colorado. It is also within the boundaries of the vast Colorado Plateau. Known as the Four-Corners area, this region of extinct volcanic features covers approximately 20,000 square km.