The traditional Walla Walla territory included parts of northern Oregon and southern Washington along the lower Wallawalla river and the conjunction of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The name Walla Walla means “little river” in their dialect of the Penutian language family. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon includes the Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Cayuse. Walla Walla artist James Lavadour’s Sunflower was recently the centerpiece of an exhibition, Re-Imagining Landscape, in the Missoula Art Museum (MAM) in Missoula, Montana.
According to MAM:
“James Lavadour takes the notion of unique perspectives to another level with his painting, Sunflower, whose subject is mountains, the most majestic and dominant feature in much of Western painting. However, his approach focuses on very small and specific sections of the mountain. Again, it is the horizon—in this case, rugged ridgelines—that denote the landscape and force the viewer to imagine the scale. Lavadour acknowledges the multiple perspectives necessary to view mountains. Indeed, any depiction of the landscape is necessarily a fragment, a composed view that contrasts the multisensory, 360° experience of the natural world.”
Sunflower is a large work made in 1999 with oil on panel.
More American Indian art
Indians 101: Caddo artist Raven Halfmoon (museum tour)
Indians 101: Contemporary Indian animal art (museum tour)
Indians 101: Glass art by Marcus Amerman (museum tour)
Indians 101: Exploring Glass Art by Native Artists (Art Diary)
Indians 101: Contemporary American Indian Art (museum tour)
Indians 101: Reborn Rez Wrecks (museum tour)
Indians 101: Hubcap Shields (museum tour)
Indians 101: Glass Art by Northwest Native Carvers and Weavers (Art Diary)