Pen and Ink Drawing of Five Horses [R]

Carl Gorman was born in 1907 in Chile, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation. He graduated from the Albuquerque Indian School. When World War II broke out, he became one of the original Navajo Code Talkers. After the war he used the GI Bill to attend college at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles where he studied European Art. He studied painting and worked in other media as well, including jewelry, ceramics and tile. Although he painted his entire life, he spent much of his time working on projects and programs that celebrated and promoted Native American culture.

In the 1960s he managed the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild and was involved in and led a Navajo history project which conducted oral interviews with Navajo elders. After his time at Otis Art Institute, he became a technical illustrator for Douglas Aircraft, established his own silk-screen company and became an instructor in Native American art at the University of California, Davis.

Carl Gorman was a trailblazer for generations of young Native American artists. He dedicated his time and energy to the careers of others and because of this he did not spend a great deal of time painting and drawing. His son, RC Gorman, went on to become a well-known Native American and New Mexico resident.

This drawing of five horses demonstrates Carl Gorman’s talent. Drawn in pen and ink, he has deliberately defined form and created structure with an efficient use of line.  The horses come alive as they gallop across a desert landscape. The manner in which Gorman has rendered the animals illustrates he had a knowledge of horses, the way the heads are held, and the legs are placed, was done in a way that shows he spent a great deal of time around animals. It is signed by the artist in the bottom right hand corner.

Condition: The Pen and Ink Drawing of Five Horses is in excellent condition

Provenance: From a collector in Taos who knew Carl Gorman and collaborated with R. C. Gorman on ceramic creations.

Recommended Reading: The Sweet Grass Lives On: Fifty Contemporary North American Indian Artists by Jamake Highwater