Doris Rosenthal (American, 1889–1971)
Now-A-Kuhlona (Evening Star), ca. 1907
Oil on canvas
36 × 30 in.
Signed lower right
Wrapped in a dark shawl and holding a large green ceramic vessel, the sitter commands nearly the entire canvas. Rosenthal’s expressive brushwork and saturated accents of green, red, and gold give the portrait a striking psychological presence.
Rosenthal became nationally recognized for her portrayals of Indigenous and rural life in Mexico and the American Southwest. She received two prestigious Guggenheim Fellowships, in 1931 and 1936, supporting her artistic work in Mexico, and her work was later exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. Now-A-Kuhlona is especially notable for its monumental presentation of a named Indigenous woman as an individual rather than an anonymous “type”—a distinction that gives the portrait unusual presence within early twentieth-century Southwestern art.
Provenance and exhibition history:
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, according to a label on the reverse
Santa Fe Collection of Southwestern Art, according to a label on the reverse
Exhibited: Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Santa Fe Railway: Women of the West, January 13–March 12, 1995
