Post by grahamew on Jan 5, 2011 17:58:38 GMT -5
Looking through auction sites for photographs of Indians, I often see the works of painters who were able to depict Indians in the field, albiet in a kind of idealised pre-reservationera. Several threads have made reference to Farny, Sharp and Burbank and I recently started one on Cronau. One name that crops up less frequently is that of John Hauser, who was associated with Sharp and knew Burbank and painted portraits and vignettes often implying some narrative, which like the works of Sharp and Farny, were set in the recent, pre-reservation past (though often featured reservation-era saddles on the horses!). Several well-known Indians are portrayed; other paintings may show Wild West Show performers; some feature figures in landscapes, which look realistic in some cases, while some seem more fantastical, bringing mountainous backdrops into plains settings; another series have one figure in a landscape, yet all are fairly similalrly posed, regardless of dress or tribe.
There’s an exceptionally good website devoted to John Hauser, but its creators admit biographical details are ‘sketchy’ but this is what the site provides:
“John Hauser was born in Cincinnati on 30 January, 1859, the son of John and Anna Schrenk Hauser, both recent immigrants from Germany. With the exception of his many trips to the West and extensive periods of study in Europe, he would remain a life-long resident of the Queen City. He grew up in Over-The-Rhine and received his early education in the Cincinnati Public school system. He studied drawing at the Ohio Mechanics’ Institute, and in 1873 enrolled in the McMicken Art School, studying under Thomas A. Noble. 1880 marked the first of his European study periods, when he traveled to Munich, where he studied under Nicholas Gysis at the Royal Academy of fine Arts. 1880 is also the date of his first documented painting, a portrait of Lord Baltimore.”
Baltimore, you may remember, was the scout who trailed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the movie version of their exploits.
“In 1883 he became a member of the Drawing Dept. of the Cincinnati Public Schools, a position he held until he withdrew in 1886. He must have spent a considerable amount of time on leave, however, since in June 1885 he set sail for Europe, in the company of another Cincinnati artist, Joseph Henry Sharp. The two did some traveling and then enrolled in the Royal Academy of Art in Munich. Hauser completed this program and then continued his studies in Paris, Dusseldorf, and again in Munich.
“Upon his return to Cincinnati, Hauser began to establish his reputation as an artist. In 1890 he became one of the early members of the Cincinnati Art Club. 1891 was a very significant year: it marked his first trip to Arizona and New Mexico and the beginning of his interest in portraying Native Americans in his paintings and his lifelong enchantment with the American Indian and the west. Thereafter he traveled to Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota any and every chance he had. His trip through New Mexico in the company of Sharp in 1893 is documented in Forrest Fenn, Teepee Smoke: A New Look into the Life and Work of Joseph Henry Sharp (Santa Fe: One Horse Land And Cattle Co., 2007).”
Indian Traders
“On July 8 he married Minnie Boltz. The marriage was to remain childless. Minnie often traveled with him, and in 1901 John and Minnie became adopted members of the Sioux nation with the names “Straight White Shield” and “Bring Us Sweets,” respectively. John and Minnie Hauser spent considerable time on the Pine Ridge reservation, tenting on the Sioux lands for six months a year between 1901 and 1905. In 1904 the couple built a home in the Clifton area of Cincinnati, naming their house “Pine Ridge,” reflecting their love of and respect for the Sioux.
John died in Cincinnati on 6 Oct. 1913. Minnie followed him in death two years later”
www.johnhauserproject.com/biography.php
www.johnhauserproject.com/index.php
The website links to a pdf file on Hauser’s life and art, that includes several of his paintings throughout his career ( www.johnhauserproject.com/whitewings.pdf ). Some of the portraits have clearly been painted from photographs – after all, some of the subjects were dead and the images are clearly recognisable to anyone with even a passing familiarity of nineteenth century photographs of American Indians. Two portraits of Sitting Bull are included: one is an altered version of Goff’s 1881 photograph; the other is an altered version of the Hunkpapa leader wearing the monarch butterfly hat, taken by R. L. Kelly in 1883 or possibly by George Scott, a few years later.
The Hauser Project would like any information possible about the background to his works, biographical details, the location of paintings and sketches they aren’t familiar with.
What I’m curious about is how many of his paintings are from life – or at least worked up from sketches; how many were painted on reservations out west and how many were painted when Wild West Shows and the like visited Cincinnati; how many were painted from photographs that may or may not have been taken by Hauser. Unfortunately, as the Hauser Project points out, ‘no primary documents – letters, diaries, and the like – are known to exist.
In highlighting certain aspects of his work, I don’t intend criticism, rather I want to point out that photographs are, indeed, primay sources for at least some of his paintings.
I’m familiar with enough photographs of Broken Arm, a member of Two Strike’s Brules, to suggest that if Hauser hasn’t based his portrait on a photo of the man in the exact same pose, then he’s combined photographs to come up with a kind of composite image – unless, of course, he was in the studio when Rinehart made his images at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition (1898, Omaha, Nebraska)!
This one should be easier: Hauser’s Lone Bear:
Spencer’s Lone Bear:
However, it’s clearly based more on Spencer’s portrait of High Bear:
Hauser’s ‘Apache Runner’ (1893) is based Dana B. Chase’s photograph of the Jicarilla Apache runner, taken sometime in the 1880s or 90s.
Thunder Bear, in the pdf. file, looks suspiciously like Rocky Bear:
This is ironic, because Rocky Bear in the pdf. file is undoubtedly painted from the near profile of Broken Arm above!
Conquering Bear in the pdf. file is from the following photograph of the chief of that name:
Here’s an interesting one. This photo of Red Cloud turned up on an auction site a few years back. It’s not in Goodyear’s book (Red Cloud: Photographs of a Lakota Chief), nor is it a variant on any he features. Underneath it, we can see Hauser’s Red Cloud. Now it’s not quite the same, but it’s pretty close and is obviously based on it or some subtle variant. It does kind of beg the question: why not base it on one of the better known photographs? After all, Hauser has no problem using Heyn or Rinehart as the basis for his photographs, even if he does change the names. It makes me wonder if he took this himself or had someone take it for him. You’ll notice Red Cloud doesn’t carry the rifle in the painting, but this pose is used time and time again in other Hauser paintings.
A close up of the face:
Hauser’s Red Cloud:
Just four of the ‘man standing/walking with a rifle’ paintings that Hauser produced:
Plains Indian with Rifle, 1909
There’s another one, ‘Missed Again’, in the pdf. file.
When I first saw Hauser’s ‘Ute Country,’ I immediately thought of Two Moons. I can't think of a specific photograph as the source, but this Tuell photo will show you why I thought this:
Spotted Tail was painted by Hauser well after the Sicangu leader died – and it turns out it’s actually Two Strike. Notice the cane in his hand that appears in several late Two Strike photographs.
I haven’t seen a particular photograph that this may be based on, but I was reminded of this taken at the 1895 Atlanta Exposition:
I've got more to add to this thread - and will do in due course, but any comments are welcome.
There’s an exceptionally good website devoted to John Hauser, but its creators admit biographical details are ‘sketchy’ but this is what the site provides:
“John Hauser was born in Cincinnati on 30 January, 1859, the son of John and Anna Schrenk Hauser, both recent immigrants from Germany. With the exception of his many trips to the West and extensive periods of study in Europe, he would remain a life-long resident of the Queen City. He grew up in Over-The-Rhine and received his early education in the Cincinnati Public school system. He studied drawing at the Ohio Mechanics’ Institute, and in 1873 enrolled in the McMicken Art School, studying under Thomas A. Noble. 1880 marked the first of his European study periods, when he traveled to Munich, where he studied under Nicholas Gysis at the Royal Academy of fine Arts. 1880 is also the date of his first documented painting, a portrait of Lord Baltimore.”
Baltimore, you may remember, was the scout who trailed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the movie version of their exploits.
“In 1883 he became a member of the Drawing Dept. of the Cincinnati Public Schools, a position he held until he withdrew in 1886. He must have spent a considerable amount of time on leave, however, since in June 1885 he set sail for Europe, in the company of another Cincinnati artist, Joseph Henry Sharp. The two did some traveling and then enrolled in the Royal Academy of Art in Munich. Hauser completed this program and then continued his studies in Paris, Dusseldorf, and again in Munich.
“Upon his return to Cincinnati, Hauser began to establish his reputation as an artist. In 1890 he became one of the early members of the Cincinnati Art Club. 1891 was a very significant year: it marked his first trip to Arizona and New Mexico and the beginning of his interest in portraying Native Americans in his paintings and his lifelong enchantment with the American Indian and the west. Thereafter he traveled to Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota any and every chance he had. His trip through New Mexico in the company of Sharp in 1893 is documented in Forrest Fenn, Teepee Smoke: A New Look into the Life and Work of Joseph Henry Sharp (Santa Fe: One Horse Land And Cattle Co., 2007).”
Indian Traders
“On July 8 he married Minnie Boltz. The marriage was to remain childless. Minnie often traveled with him, and in 1901 John and Minnie became adopted members of the Sioux nation with the names “Straight White Shield” and “Bring Us Sweets,” respectively. John and Minnie Hauser spent considerable time on the Pine Ridge reservation, tenting on the Sioux lands for six months a year between 1901 and 1905. In 1904 the couple built a home in the Clifton area of Cincinnati, naming their house “Pine Ridge,” reflecting their love of and respect for the Sioux.
John died in Cincinnati on 6 Oct. 1913. Minnie followed him in death two years later”
www.johnhauserproject.com/biography.php
www.johnhauserproject.com/index.php
The website links to a pdf file on Hauser’s life and art, that includes several of his paintings throughout his career ( www.johnhauserproject.com/whitewings.pdf ). Some of the portraits have clearly been painted from photographs – after all, some of the subjects were dead and the images are clearly recognisable to anyone with even a passing familiarity of nineteenth century photographs of American Indians. Two portraits of Sitting Bull are included: one is an altered version of Goff’s 1881 photograph; the other is an altered version of the Hunkpapa leader wearing the monarch butterfly hat, taken by R. L. Kelly in 1883 or possibly by George Scott, a few years later.
The Hauser Project would like any information possible about the background to his works, biographical details, the location of paintings and sketches they aren’t familiar with.
What I’m curious about is how many of his paintings are from life – or at least worked up from sketches; how many were painted on reservations out west and how many were painted when Wild West Shows and the like visited Cincinnati; how many were painted from photographs that may or may not have been taken by Hauser. Unfortunately, as the Hauser Project points out, ‘no primary documents – letters, diaries, and the like – are known to exist.
In highlighting certain aspects of his work, I don’t intend criticism, rather I want to point out that photographs are, indeed, primay sources for at least some of his paintings.
I’m familiar with enough photographs of Broken Arm, a member of Two Strike’s Brules, to suggest that if Hauser hasn’t based his portrait on a photo of the man in the exact same pose, then he’s combined photographs to come up with a kind of composite image – unless, of course, he was in the studio when Rinehart made his images at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition (1898, Omaha, Nebraska)!
This one should be easier: Hauser’s Lone Bear:
Spencer’s Lone Bear:
However, it’s clearly based more on Spencer’s portrait of High Bear:
Hauser’s ‘Apache Runner’ (1893) is based Dana B. Chase’s photograph of the Jicarilla Apache runner, taken sometime in the 1880s or 90s.
Thunder Bear, in the pdf. file, looks suspiciously like Rocky Bear:
This is ironic, because Rocky Bear in the pdf. file is undoubtedly painted from the near profile of Broken Arm above!
Conquering Bear in the pdf. file is from the following photograph of the chief of that name:
Here’s an interesting one. This photo of Red Cloud turned up on an auction site a few years back. It’s not in Goodyear’s book (Red Cloud: Photographs of a Lakota Chief), nor is it a variant on any he features. Underneath it, we can see Hauser’s Red Cloud. Now it’s not quite the same, but it’s pretty close and is obviously based on it or some subtle variant. It does kind of beg the question: why not base it on one of the better known photographs? After all, Hauser has no problem using Heyn or Rinehart as the basis for his photographs, even if he does change the names. It makes me wonder if he took this himself or had someone take it for him. You’ll notice Red Cloud doesn’t carry the rifle in the painting, but this pose is used time and time again in other Hauser paintings.
A close up of the face:
Hauser’s Red Cloud:
Just four of the ‘man standing/walking with a rifle’ paintings that Hauser produced:
Plains Indian with Rifle, 1909
There’s another one, ‘Missed Again’, in the pdf. file.
When I first saw Hauser’s ‘Ute Country,’ I immediately thought of Two Moons. I can't think of a specific photograph as the source, but this Tuell photo will show you why I thought this:
Spotted Tail was painted by Hauser well after the Sicangu leader died – and it turns out it’s actually Two Strike. Notice the cane in his hand that appears in several late Two Strike photographs.
I haven’t seen a particular photograph that this may be based on, but I was reminded of this taken at the 1895 Atlanta Exposition:
I've got more to add to this thread - and will do in due course, but any comments are welcome.