I spent a long time looking at this painting "The Tradition Lives On" by David Bradley hanging in the Heard Museum. Mr. Bradley painted this piece in 2007 and said he wanted to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Heard Museum Guild's Indian Fair and Market. At the same time he was paying tribute to the great masters of Indian art who paved the way for all Native American artists. He also sprinkled in a few influential great artists and some pop culture figures.
In the center front row is Maria Martinez a potter. He placed her in the center because the tradition of pottery-making is an elemental form of Indian art. To her left is Charles Loloma, a jeweler and Allan Houser the famous sculptor. On the other side, to her right is Fritz Scholder a painter, he is shaking hands with fabric artist Lloyd New. Standing between them is painter T.C. Cannon. You might have also spotted, Freda Kahlo handing flowers to Georgia O'Keeffe with R.C. Gorman looking on. Behind Freda is Diego Rivera. And, did you spot Pablo Picasso wearing his trademark striped shirt? Some of the pop culture figures I spotted are The Lone Ranger near the center in the white hat and of course, Grant Wood's American Gothic figures to the far right of the painting. They are holding some Indian art pieces instead of the iconic pitchfork.
You can see that there is plenty to see in this painting. One can look at it for a long time and continue to spot new people and places.
16 comments:
An intriguing piece of work. I didn't spot too many other people but I see there are 'ghost riders in the sky'.
Très joli tradition de la vie
Have a nice day!
That is quite incredible and thanks for such a good photo of it - makes it easier to figure out who's who!
Goodness Sharon, so much talent gathered in one painting.. brilliant!
What an intriguing piece and an amazing number of icons represented (thanks also for walking us through who's who:)
Thanks for your text today. It certainly add a lot.
I agree, there is a lot to see in this painting and it's such fun. Thanks for including all the great info too.
A brilliant painting!
Great pic! I attended a workshop with Maria Martinez in the 70s so this brought back memories, Sharon.
Interesting painting. I had a great time finding the people as you pointed them out.
It's a visually fascinating picture! My eyes did fall on Frieda and Diego, and on the variation of American Gothic.
That's a nice one!
I would have thought Barry Goldwater would have been there, too, but I can't spot him.
This painting is brilliant because of the way Bradley celebrated artists of enormous talent. Very clever and imaginative. I'd love to see this one myself. Bradley has so much talent!
I like pictures like this, always something new to see!
This is fascinating! Thanks for pointing out all those celebs!
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