They Saw Man for the First Time

Ralph "Gus" Kniffin


Savvy Price $550.00: Gallery Price $650.00

Title: They Saw Man for the First Time
Artist: Ralph "Gus" Kniffin
Medium: Color lithography and ink (unique original)
Sight size: 9 3/4" height X 24" width
Frame: Two archival window mat boards, regular glass and smoke-colored metal molding
Frame size: 16 1/2" height X 32" width
Signed: "Ralph 'Gus' Kniffin 8 26 81" at viewer's lower left
Date of creation: 1981
Condition: Excellent, as appeared framed, glazed
Provenance: ALF collection, acquired directly from the artist

About The They Saw Man for the First Time

Five stylized horses with extremely long red necks have their heads turned toward viewer's right. Title suggests they are gazing at what could be their first interface with a human being.

About Ralph "Gus" Kniffin

(Born 1946-2013) Apache/ Shoshone American Indian) A member of the San Carlos tribe, Kniffin was a painter who studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico and specifically with Allan Houser, Charles Loloma and Fritz Scholder.

Kniffin won first place, a special award and two honorable mentions for his pen and ink drawings at the annual Scottsdale National in 1976. He also won first prize and honorable mention at the Heard Annual Art Show in Phoenix (1976). Kniffin was represented in Phoenix, Arizona by Gallery Three.

He had been cited in Who's Who in American Art.

Other Works By Ralph "Gus" Kniffin:

Cultures