Monica

Navajo artist Rudolph Carl Gorman (1931-2005) was referred to as “the Picasso of American Indian artists” by the New York Times.  Gorman grew up in a traditional Navajo hogan and began drawing at the age of 3. His father was one of the original 29 Navajo Code talkers who developed the unbreakable code used by the United States military in World War II.

Gorman is well known for his paintings of Native American women. His art was heavily influenced by the work of Mexican social realists Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros.

In the early 1980s, Gorman traveled to Japan where he created a series of woodblock prints influenced by Japanese culture.  Monica was printed by master woodblock printers in Tokyo, Japan in 1982.

Monica was originally purchased by art collectors who live in Austin.  The original sales paperwork and valuation paperwork from the R.C. Gorman Gallery convey with the art.