1944 Quincy Tahoma "Buffalo Charge" Gouache
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GUEST:
This painting belonged to my grandfather, who was a road contractor in the teens and '20s. So he traveled all across the southwest part of the United States building two-lane roads. And I think, in those travels, he came to appreciate Native American art, apparently. And he bought this in the '40s, passed it on to my father, who hung it in his tractor business. So it was on the wall of the tractor company for 40 years.
APPRAISER:
Nice. Well, it's a painting by Quincy Tahoma. He was a Navajo artist born in Arizona, and he was, interestingly enough, one of the Indian code talkers in World War II.
GUEST:
This painter was?
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
Wow!
APPRAISER:
Yeah. So really wonderful example of his work. It's gouache on paper, with ink, as well. It was done in 1944, and it's titled, "Buffalo Charge." What's interesting about his work is, he tells a story in the actual painting, and then in his signature, he finishes the story. So here you have after the charge. And it's kind of difficult to see exactly what's happening here, but it looks like they're, they're walking off victoriously. He was very prolific. It was actually a very short-lived career. He died in his 30s.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
But in the beginning, his scenes were very peaceful. Towards the end of his career, they became very active. This is, has a very wonderful rhythmic quality, there's a lot of action, and that's consistent with the rest of his work. At auction, I could see this easily bringing $2,500 to $3,500.
GUEST:
Fantastic.
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