Watercolor on muslin

Native American themed painting titled "Two Araphos Chased by Soldiers" by English artist Peter Bowles, later known as Ikce Wicasa Ecetkiya Wawowa. The work features two Araphos people on horseback being chased by American soldiers with guns in the style of ledger paintings. Signed in front upper right corner and titled along front center margin. Currently hung in a light wood frame.

Born in England, Peter (P.L.) Bowles has been fascinated by Native American culture since childhood. From his earliest drawings, Bowles aims for an honest portrayal of the 19th century Indian life on the Great Plains. In 1989 Bowles fulfilled a lifelong dream of living among the Plains Indians by traveling to South Dakota and the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Sioux reservations. It was at that time the idea formulated of recreating the old style of painting on unbleached muslin. Originally "ledger" paintings were done on hides, but when the supply became scarce they were replaced by muslin in the latter half of the 19th century. Using the age-old methods, Bowles closely follows the pictorial etiquette of the muslin art by using pen and ink along with watercolors to depict war honors, ceremonies, and scenes from day-to-day life. Pains are taken to portray the correct clothing, wounds, and positions of the warriors without perspective, hence the appearance of floating images. The member of the respective tribes can be differentiated by such details as hairstyles, breechcloths, moccasins, and body adornments. Bowles' first commission was for Emil Her Many Horses, then curator of the St. Francis Museum on the Rosebud Reservaton. He was then commissioned to paint the tepee of Elmer Running, believed to be the last visionary spiritual leader of the Lakota reservations, and then a tepee for Leonard Crow Dog, also a medicine man of the Rosebud Sioux. While living on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in 1991, he was honored at a Lakota adoption ceremony and given the name "Ikce Wicasa Ecetkiya Wawowa", which loosely translates as "Paints Like the Natural Man."

H 27 in. x W 43.5 in. x D 1 in.

H 20.75 in. x W 37 in.