177 of 405 lots
177
Grace Ravlin (American, 1873-1956) Corn Dance
Estimate: $10,000-$15,000
Sold
$5,000
Live Auction
Western Paintings and Sculpture including Contemporary Native American Art Session I
Size
27 1/2 x 36 1/2 inches
Description
Grace Ravlin
(American, 1873-1956)
Corn Dance
oil on canvas
signed Ravlin (lower right)
27 1/2 x 36 1/2 inches
Property from the Collection of Leonard Stark, Chicago, Illinois
Condition
Overall good condition. No visible damage or losses. Faint soiling throughout surface, visible primarily in upper quadrants. Canvas has been relined. One point of fluorescence, does not appear to be inpainting. Please request additional images. Framed dimensions: 34 1/4 x 43 1/2 inches
Signature
signed Ravlin (lower right)
Provenance

Provenance:
Estate of Richard L. Jones
Christie’s, Los Angeles, California, Nov. 16, 2004, Lot 63
Collection of Leonard Stark, Chicago, Illinois

Grace Ravlin took one art class as an elective in high school and saw her future unroll before her like a magic carpet. She rode this carpet to the Art Institute of Chicago, then to further studies with William Merritt Chase in Philadelphia and then to Paris and Venice to complete her training. Ravlin returned to the United States, painting in the Southwest, including New Mexico, and exhibiting at the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in 1915. After a detour as a Red Cross nurse at the end of World War I, she returned to life as an artist-adventurer. Ravlin was a tireless and fearless traveler, painting in France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia. In 1924, her works were exhibited alongside Robert Henri’s at the prestigious Macbeth Gallery in New York. Ravlin knew many of the Taos Founders, especially Walter Ufer. In fact, Ravlin often used Ufer’s Chicago studio when he was in New Mexico. Ravlin sometimes referred to herself as an “ethnographic painter,” but the sensations a painting such as Corn Dance creates in the viewer, mirrors the vibrations of the dancers across the plaza. Ravlin worked in a post-impressionist mode: thick paint, rhythmic brushstrokes, and the use of color to create contour and resonance. The plaza in Corn Dance, for example, shimmers almost as if the clay were water.

-James D. Balestrieri