Original Drawing “Untitled— Navajo Man On Horseback” [SOLD]

Don Perceval was selected to provide illustrations for Charles R. Lummis' book General Crook and the Apache Wars, the General to whom Geronimo surrendered in 1886. There are 13 double-page illustrations in the book, all drawn by Perceval.

When word that the Apaches had surrendered was flashed over the wires the country was elated. The then Colonel Harrison G. Otis, publisher of the Los Angeles Times sent Charles F. Lummis to cover the story. Lummis was familiar with the countryside, having previously walked from Arizona to California. Following Lummis' death, his daughter Turbesé edited and published his account of Crook and the Apaches. It was she who asked Perceval to provide illustrations for the book.

Don Louis Perceval had been born in Essex, England, in 1908 to an artist mother. The family moved to Los Angeles where Perceval attended the Pasadena Military Academy and Chouinard Art Institute.

By age 19, he was making sketching trips into the desert and in 1927 was in Arizona where he became enamored with Hopi and Navajo Indians and their way of life and traditions.

Drawn to the desert for inspiration, Perceval made frequent trips to Arizona, becoming a scholar in the traditions of the Hopi and Navajo Indians. Stylistically similar to Maynard Dixon, Perceval's Southwest works drew upon his life's experiences. In the 1950's Perceval lived with the Hopi Tribe in Arizona.

This outstanding rendering of a Navajo man and his horse clearly illustrates the solitude of these people. The Navajo are very reticent and rarely engage in conversation. Traders on the Reservation often have written about how the Navajo will enter the trading post, sit against the wall for an hour or more, and then finally point to what they are interested in. They seem to have a knack for relaxing and taking it easy. Perceval illustrates this well.