Gifting artwork – Native American artwork
I’m biased, but I think gifting artwork is the most personalized, thoughtful, memorable present you can give someone. A gift of art is unusual and unexpected. It demonstrates sincere attention and will be cherished when tailored to the recipient’s interest. Art is lasting in a disposable world and can hang on a wall for 20, 30, 50 years.
Gifting artwork from local galleries also supports small businesses and artists, and in the case of my friends at WYLD Gallery in Austin, TX and online, supports Native American artists.
If you’re looking for that perfect gift and have been unable to come up with something just right, let me help you select a perfect gift of art. We’ll approach the decision from two angles: subject and price. All of these Native American paintings, perfect for gifting artwork, are available online from WYLD Gallery.
Artworks by subject
Landscape
If the person you’re buying for loves Yosemite – particularly if its for a woman – Kathy S. “Whitebear” Copsey’s Escape to Yosemite will bring smiles.
Animal
I love buffalo artwork and Frank Buffalo Hyde’s (Onondaga) nocturnal interpretation of the subject gets me going.
Portrait
Nocona Burgess has work in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institute Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe. Nocona is the great, great grandson of Chief Quanah Parker, the last war chief of the Comanche.
He’s best known for his portraiture.
Historic
Ken Woodward’s (Cherokee) Faces on the Trail chills me to the bone.
David Bradley (Minnesota Chippewa) is a MAJOR contemporary Native American painter with works in top museums around the country. WYLD Gallery offers high-quality David Bradley signed lithographs for the collector who wants to bring historically significant artists into their collection.
Female artist
Joyce Nevaquaya Harris (Comanche, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Apsáalooke) paints women with exceptional tenderness. Her amazingly reasonably priced pictures of women would be perfect when gifting art to a sister or mother of daughters.
Avant-garde
You do what you want with your money, artwork is incredibly personal, but if you want my advice for an artist to get behind, an artist who will end up in museums, an artist whose work may have investment value who you can get in on the ground floor with, my bet is Del Curfman (Apsáalooke).
Pick something from his “Vanishing” series at a bargain price for contemporary art of this caliber and significance.
Artwork by Price
Under $500
Gifting art needn’t be financially crippling. Don’t let anyone tell you great art must be expensive. Take a look at this Eagle Dancer painting from Kiowa artist Darwin Tsoodle, an Institute of American Indian Art graduate – awesome image, not small, original painting, skillful, colorful, energetic – $100!
Shaun Beyale (Diné), who draws for Marvel Comics, has graphic works that are similarly priced.
Under $1,000
I love the fine lines, the detail, the atmospheric effects of this watercolor by Cruz McDaniels II (Kiowa, Lakota, Zuni) who paints under the name of Set-Koy-Key or Man Who Lives with Bears. Cruz served in the U.S. Marine Corps and received both a bachelor and Master of Arts degree at Southwest Oklahoma State University.
One of McDaniels’ earliest memories is of his father comforting him as the moon set. McDaniels always includes a moon in his paintings to honor his father. Gifting artwork to dad, or someone who recently lost a father, here you go.
Under $2,000
Dylan Cavin (Choctaw) is a rising star on the contemporary Native American art scene. He recently was commissioned for a piece which now hangs in the Oklahoma State Capital building. His Robed Chief won the President’s Award at the 2016 Red Earth Festival in Oklahoma City, one of the top Indian Markets in the country. The large, framed painting is a bargain at $1,100!
Over $2,000
Eric Tippeconnic is one of my favorite artists and the first Comanche to receive a PhD in history. Odds on Favorite puts a contemporary flair on an historic subject.
