SOLD

Notes: Richard “Dick” West became the third director of Bacone’s art department in 1947 and held that position for 23 years. Under his long and influential term, Bacone’s art program provided a positive, encouraging and creative environment for its students. The “school” of Bacone artists continued working in the traditional forms: they looked to the romantic past for inspiration, depicted figures from legends, mythology and ceremonies and presented them in theatrical and sometimes mysterious forms. 

West’s War Ritual Offering recreates an idealized formal Indian ceremony, simultaneously telling a story and creating a sociological record with its wealth of detail. The image depicts three warriors after a battle. One horse coming, another going… There are four scalps in the foreground along with a painted buffalo skull inlaid with peyote buttons. There is a bow with arrows resting in front of the altar. A seated man wearing a wolf hide and headdress, eagle feather lance and war bonnet, a catlinite pipe and stem. The scene is full of rich information.

It is uncommon to find artwork by Dick West on the market today, particularly ones depicting a scene or ceremony.