About the work

From a Santa Barbara, California, collector. An exceptionally large conte drawing compared to Burbank’s known body of works in this medium, possibly his largest Native American portrait of this type. Housed under glass in a frame by Myron Graham, owner of the iconic Graham’s Art & Picture Frame Store in San Luis Obispo. 

A well rendered work in very fine condition. The stoic expression of the subject is reminiscent of Great Depression-era photographs taken by Dorothea Lange several years after Burbank completed this drawing.  

About the artist…

Born in Harvard, Illinois, Elbridge Ayer Burbank (1858-1949) created one of the most comprehensive and articulate productions of Native American portraiture ever made. He was trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and later continued his art studies in Munich, where he counted Joseph Henry Sharp and William Robinson Leigh among his colleagues.

Burbank’s interest in Native American portraiture was largely influenced by his uncle, Edward E. Ayer, an avid collector of Native American artifacts. Ayer offered Burbank a commission for a portrait of the famous Apache leader, Geronimo. On this assignment, Burbank traveled West to Ganado, Arizona, where he met trading post owner Lorenzo Hubbell, who became a life-long friend. Thus began the first of Burbank’s frequent trips west, where he eventually painted over 1200 portraits of Indians from 125 tribes.

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