Description:
Watercolor on paper. Signed l.r.: Mopope '30, Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 26.
From: American Indian Painters, Vol. 1, p. 17: There is a tradition that, in the days of long ago, when the restless and martial Kiowas made periodic raids to the south, a handsome Spanish girl was captured, who grew up in the tribe and later married one of the warriors, becoming the ancestress of Steve Mopope. At any rate, Mopope is endowed with a courteous manner that reminds one of a grandee of Spain. On the purely Indian side, Mopope's ancestry is distinguished, harking back to Appiation, one of the greates Kiowas. He was a philosopher and had an understanding of the problems of his people in a difficult time of change. Mopope's childhood was spent with his grandmother, in the purest Indian tradition. His artistic bent showed early. When his uncles, Hakok and Silver Horn, discovered that the untutored young fellow had been drawing designs in the sand, they took him in hand and taught him how to paint, in the old Kiowa trqadition, on tanned skins with earth pigments. It was therefore natural that Steve should be one of the original group of Kiowa boys who were launched on their career in 1923. His Indian name, Pointed Robe, was prophetic. He found his greatest joy in painting, and like his colleagues, his main source of inspiration and subject matter came from the Indian rituals and Indian traditions. In the early thirties, his output was considerable and was of high qualityl. He is represented in all the important collections of Indian paintings. His mural works are found in several colleges, the Artillery Museum at Fort Sill, Federal Building of Anadarko, Federal Building of Muskogee. Department of Interior in Washington D.C., and in some commercial buildings. It is no mere coincidence that the Indian artists are also distinguished daners, for the sense of rhythm that is needed in one art is needed also in the other. As a dancer, Steve Mopope has repeatedly won the championship of all the Indian tribes, until he was finally decreed hors concours at the annual Inter-Tribal Ceremonial at Gallup, New Mexico. During the last few years, he has been less prolific in his painting. "The Medicine Dance" is, I believe, the finest single figure that Mopope has painted and ranks among the very finest in Modern Indian art. In every way, it compares favorably with the fine figures the ancient Greeks painted on their vases; in color and in line, it is the ultimate in refinement and taste. (Collection, Oscar Brousse Jacobson)