Original Lithograph “Navajo Cadillac on a Prayerstick” [SOLD]

Long ago, pickup trucks replaced buckboards and horses on the Navajo Reservation.  It was this event that expanded the world of the Navajo beyond their immediate trading post area of the reservation.  It was then that they could hop in their pickup truck and venture many miles beyond their previous boundaries.

The artist has made a shrine of a pickup truck by placing it on a Prayerstick, almost elevating it to a religious symbol.  It's a way to present the importance to the Navajo of the pickup truck of the 20^th century.

Douglas Johnson was born in Portland, Oregon and is a self-taught artist.  While in college, Johnson joined the government program Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) by which he was assigned to the Navajo Reservation.  As a result of this experience, his art is a reflection of his tenure with working to improve the lives of Reservation Navajos.  He moved permanently to New Mexico as a result of this experience.  Much of his art reflects his knowledge and appreciation of Navajo life.

This image is titled, signed and dated and noted as an artist's proof.  It was completed in 1977.

Condition: original condition; small stain in upper left of blank field not touching the image itself.

Provenance: from the Katherine H. Rust collection