Ernie Patton — Chief Wolf Robe, Southern Cheyenne, Original Watercolor

A commanding bust-length portrait of Wolf Robe (Ho'néhevotoomáhe, c. 1838–1910), Southern Cheyenne chief, rendered in watercolor on paper. The subject is shown in three-quarter view — gaze lifted slightly, expression composed and resolute — wearing a full trailing eagle-feather war bonnet with a red headband and a large peace medal suspended from a red ribbon at his chest. Wolf Robe was awarded the Peace Medal in 1890 by the federal government in recognition of his assistance negotiating land agreements with the Cherokee Commission — a historically specific detail that anchors the portrait firmly to its subject. An eagle-wing fan is held in the right hand. The palette is warm and deliberate: amber and ochre washes build a luminous background field behind the bonnet, while the face and regalia are rendered with layered brushwork that balances watercolor looseness with the precision of a trained portraitist.

Wolf Robe was among the most photographed Plains Indian leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries — documented by F.A. Rinehart in 1898, by the Gerhard Sisters at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, and by DeLancy Gill in 1909. His portrait entered wide popular circulation and became a touchstone for Western artists in the generations that followed. Ernie Patton's watercolor works squarely within that tradition, bringing Wolf Robe's bearing and dignity into a more intimate painted register. The work is signed lower right.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Ernie Patton (c. 1940–2023) was a Memphis, Tennessee painter and muralist whose career spanned portraiture, landscape, and large-scale figurative work across more than five decades. A faculty member at the Memphis College of Art, Patton built a wide regional following through an output that ranged from intimate watercolors and oils on board to monumental public commissions. He was best known as a portraitist of celebrated figures — Muhammad Ali and Paul "Bear" Bryant among his documented subjects — and his work found its way into the homes of prominent Memphis politicians and civic leaders, including Congressman Harold Ford Sr. and Harold Ford Jr. His paintings hung in well-known Memphis establishments including Half Shell, Corky's, Belmont, and the Commissary. In 2013, at age 72, Patton undertook a significant restoration commission at St. Patrick Church in downtown Memphis, climbing scaffolding thirty feet above the altar floor to refresh century-old murals over 28 days. Of his process, Patton said: "You've got to put a lot of soul in it." He passed away in 2023.

CONDITION

Good. No remarkable damage. Frame and mat are clean with no losses.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 33" H × 29" W × 1¼" D
• Visible image: 23¼" H × 19½" W
• Medium: Watercolor on paper
• Frame: Wood-look, double mat (black and burgundy), glazed
• Signature: Lower right, Ernie Patton
• Subject: Wolf Robe (Ho'néhevotoomáhe, c. 1838–1910), Southern Cheyenne chief; holder of the Peace Medal
• Artist: Ernie Patton (c. 1940–2023), Memphis, TN; faculty, Memphis College of Art