Modernist
WINOLD REISS (1886–1953)
Henry (White Dog) Whitford, c. 1931
Mixed media on Whatman board, 30 x 22 in.
Signed (at lower left): WINOLD REISS
RECORDED: Jeffrey C. Stewart, Winold Reiss: An Illustrated Checklist of His Portraits (Washington. D.C.: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1990), p. 42 illus.
EXHIIBITED: Art Galleries of the Squibb Building, New York, January 10–February 1, 1935, American Indian Paintings by Winold Reiss, no. 67 // C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana, September 16–October 31, 1986, Winold Reiss Portraits of the Races: “Art Has No Prejudice,” p. 44 illus. in color // Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, April 12–May 25, 2018, “Winold Reiss will not be classified,” no 13
EX COLL.: the artist, until 1953; to his estate, until the present
In the time that Winold Reiss spent living with and painting the Blackfeet of Montana, the artist explored every demographic of his chosen people: infants to elders, male and female, tribal leaders as well as ordinary folk. As with his Harlem Renaissance portraits, some of Reiss Blackfeet subjects were identifiable figures, others not. Henry (White Dog) Whitford (1882–1955), was a working man and a member of the Blackfeet tribe when Winold Reiss painted him in Browning, Montana, in about 1931. (His name appears in official records as “Harry”) Whitford was married, and the father of a large family. The 1930 census describes his occupation as “sawyer,” working in a “cottonwood mill.” Reiss shows Whitford in his working clothes, a plaid shirt, black denim jeans, and a wide brimmed hat. This is standard “western” mainstream garb, that does not identify the wearer as an Indian. Similarly, Whitford’s hair is short, and he sports a distinctive bushy white moustache, both reflections of styles prevailing in the world outside the reservation.
