Untitled Painting of a Buffalo Hunt [SOLD]

Stephen Mopope (1898-1974) Qued Koi - Painted Robe was a painter, dancer and musician whose paintings have been exhibited in museums around the world.  Mopope was born and raised on the Kiowa Reservation, Indian Territory, which later became the US state of Oklahoma. His grandfather was a Spanish captive, kidnapped by the Kiowa from a wagon train crossing the prairie and reared by Chief Many Bears. On the Kiowa side, he was a descendant of Appiatan, a notable Kiowa warrior. 

Mopope’s childhood education by his grandmother was in the Kiowa tradition. Later, he studied with Susie Peters of the Kiowa Agency in Anadarko, Oklahoma, and at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.  Mopope would go on to become the most prolific member of a group of influential Oklahoma artists known first as the Kiowa Five and ultimately as the Kiowa Six.

Like the “Flat-Style” or “Studio Style” paintings being created by Pueblo Indian painters, the works of the *Kiowa Six focus on the everyday life of the Indian: religious ceremonies, everyday rituals, and everything in between.  Like the Pueblo painters, their works are mostly two-dimensional and contain minimal backgrounds.  The Indian’s environment is mostly ignored in favor of detailed portrayals of the Indian himself.

This untitled original painting is a fine example of the style for which Mopope and his contemporaries became famous.  His subjects are seen in profile and surrounded by very little: a cactus, a yucca, and a few curved lines.  In the foreground, a lean and muscular hunter on horseback pursues a buffalo.  Behind the hunter and his horse, the wide-eyed buffalo runs at full speed with his head ducked down.  The horse, also in full stride, stares straight ahead as the hunter turns left and draws his bow.  Mopope used bold, primary colors very effectively here, adding even more energy to the image.  That Mopope captured all this movement so gracefully speaks to his natural abilities as painter.

*The Kiowa Six, previously known as the Kiowa Five, is a group of six Kiowa artists from Oklahoma in the early 20th century. They were Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke. -Wikipedia

Condition: this Untitled Painting of a Buffalo Hunt is in excellent condition

Provenance: From the collection of a California resident

Recommended Reading: Song from the Earth: American Indian Painting by Jamake Highwater