Taos Indian (also called "Fat John")

Howard Norton Cook

Howard Cook moved to Taos, New Mexico shortly after visiting it in 1926. He returned to New York in 1928. While living in Taos he did this powerful woodcut title "Taos Indian", an alternative title is the less, by current standards, dignified "Fat John".

The model was John D. Lujan (Luhan), 1915 - 1999, the nephew of Antonio "Tony" Luhan (Lujan) 1879-1963, who courted and married Buffalo, New York heiress Mabel Dodge, (1879-1962) becoming her fourth and final husband in 1923. The Luhans became the center of the Taos arts community in the 1920s up into the 1950s.

Both John and Tony Lujan were Tiwa Indians from the Taos Pueblo. John's nickname in Taos was "Fat John". Cook depicts him here in full native American dress, sitting on a chair covered by a blanket.

This image was projected as an edition of 50 but Cook only printed 40 impressions. Cook did a second printing in red and black but only printed a few proofs.

This impression was from the collection of Darwine Bailey (1903-1997) who owned the Artist's Alley Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, purchased from the artist around 1957.