Monumental Native American ceramic vase / planter by R.C.Gorman, Arizona 1980s

Rudolph Carl Gorman was an American artist, born on July 26, 1931, in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. He was raised in a traditional hogan, on the Navajo Reservation. He became one of the Southwest USA's most famous and celebrated Native American artists. His signature works were Navajo women in a variety of poses. Referred to as the Picasso of American Indian Artists by The New York Times, his paintings are primarily of Native American women and characterized by fluid forms and vibrant colors, though he also worked in sculpture, ceramics and stone lithography. In 1973, the Metropolitan Museum of Art included several Rudolph’s works in an exhibition on Native American art and in 1986, Harvard University honored him for his notable contributions to American art and Native American culture. His admirers included Andy Warhol, who painted him on several occasions and who was among the many celebrities, who collected his art. He was also the author of a series of popular cookbooks. Gorman died on November 3, 2005, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.