Riggs, Robert:

$25,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

TRIBAL FANTASY. Fantastical painting by Robert Riggs, showing two Indian warriors performing the Sun Dance, the first with ropes attached to piercings on his chest, and the second attached by piercings at his eyelids. Buffalo skulls also swing from ropes attached to the dancers, while they hold feather-covered leather shields. Blood streams from all their piercings. In classic Riggs style, each bead on the moccasins of the dancers is picked out clearly, and the painting is thick with Native details.Robert Riggs (1896-1970) was in his heyday one of the best-known artists and illustrators in the United States. After studies at the Art Students League and service during World War I, Riggs settled in Philadelphia, his home base for the rest of his life. In the 1930s and '40s he rose to national prominence as an illustrator, lithographer, and commercial artist, producing well-known images of boxers and circuses (two life-long obsessions), and of soldiers during World War II. In 1940, around the peak of his career as an illustrator, his drawings commanded $750-$1500 each, and his name was as well-known in the trade as that of Norman Rockwell. But Riggs loathed this commercial work, and after 1950 he slid increasingly into obscurity, although revered by those who knew him in the Philadelphia art world. When he died in 1970, he was almost forgotten.Riggs was never comfortable working in oils or watercolor, preferring dry mediums such as pencil and charcoal. For the few large painting

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