Elizabeth Lochrie
The Peddler
1949

About the Item

This artwork titled "The Peddler" 1949 is an oil painting on canvas board by renown western artist Elizabeth Davey Lochrie, 1890-1981. It is signed and dated at the lower right corner by the artist. The canvas board size is 9.75 x 28 inches, framed size is 20 x 38.25 inches. Custom framed in a wooden brown golden frame, with fabric and gold liner. It is in excellent condition. About the artist: ELIZABETH DAVEY LOCHRIE was born in Deer Lodge Montana, July 1, 1890; she was educated in Butte schools and received her art education at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1911. During 1924-1925 she painted eighteen children's murals for the Montana State Hospital. After 1932, Lochrie specialized in Native American portraits, particularly of Blackfeet tribal members, having produced more than a thousand watercolors, oils, murals and sculptures. She was adopted by the Blackfeet and given the name "Netchitaki" which translates as "Woman Alone In Her Way." "Yesterday I painted all day," Elizabeth wrote in a 1932 letter to her family upon Glacier National Park stationary, "Gypsy and Bull Child posed two hours in the afternoon and we had a long visit beside. They wanted to take Son and I into the tribe and give us names. She was adopted by the Blackfeet and given the name "Netchitaki" which translates as "Woman Alone In Her Way." Elizabeth returned almost every summer till the late 1940's to her adopted people. In her notes from the summer of 1942 she describes her visit to Sun Dance at Heart Butte Montana "The medicine woman never raises her eyes, no water for four days save a sip at sundown and no food." Swims Under and Mink Woman broke a green sapling about six feet stripped all but a tuft at top. It signifies part of the Beaver Crown and means fertility." In the summer of 1945 she tells again of being part of this world, "I took part in Feather Dance in Fish Robe Lodge. He came and asked me as they were having prayers for a little girl recovering; she had been in the Great Falls hospital for several months. Fish prayed, we all bowed our heads, about sixteen of us. Then came the feather dance and he painted my face. We used a handful of sticks decorated with three feathers each and three bones like in stick game but with no gambling Women side against men, we won three straight which took three hours. I sat at the head by Fish as chief guest, a great honor. Elizabeth for the rest of her life visited with many tribes throughout Montana, Wyoming and the West both to paint and learn about people. Her palette and brush captured a time when most Americans was unaware that the "old ways" were still alive. One could not have seen this without an open invite; she was truly "Woman Alone In Her Way." She left behind a body of work which upon the back of almost every one is written a story that allows one to be know those people that she captured through this developed bond. Today when her works are displayed it is not uncommon for Native Americans to come and show their children their grandfathers and grandmothers. They talk about the objects in the hands, the clothes that are worn, and this is one of the greatest compliment an artist may ever receive. Elizabeth died in the company of her family in Ojai, California in 1981. Exhibitions: NY World's Fair, 1939; Montana Historical Society, 1944 (solo); NW AA, 1944-46; Statler Hotel (LA), 1960 (solo); Wilshire Methodist Church (LA), 1962; Montana Arts Chateau, 1987. In: Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley); Southwest Museum (LA); LA Museum of Science & Industry; Burley (ID) Post Office (mural); Idaho Falls Post Office (mural); Dillon (MT) Post Office (mural); Helena (MT) Hist. Society; Whitney Museum (Cody, WY); Univ. of Wyoming (Laramie); State Hospital, Galen, MT (mural). The work of Elizabeth Lochrie is held in many museums including The Smithsonian Museum and the Withney Museum.

Creator:

Elizabeth Lochrie (1890 - 1981, American)

Creation Year:

1949

Dimensions:

Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 38.25 in (97.16 cm)Depth: 2.35 in (5.97 cm)

Medium:

Oil

Movement & Style:

American Impressionist

Period:

Mid-20th Century