Martin Grelle (born 1954)
Challenge
signed and dated 'Martin Grelle CA / © '03 CA' (lower right) and signed, dated again (on the reverse), titled (on the reverse)
acrylic and oil on canvas
16 x 12 in.
framed 23 x 19 in.
Footnotes:
Provenance
The artist.
Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Masters of the American West Fine Art Exhibition and Sale, February 1 - March 2, 2003.
The Collection of Joseph Thomas Alvarez III, Rancho Santa Fe, California, from the above.

Cowboy Artists of America painter Martin Grelle 'often refers to his historic paintings as 'period pieces'. In them, he depicts small slices of Western and Native American history, which he has carefully researched to make sure that each detail is authentic, both literally and spiritually. For Grelle, the research leads directly to telling a story on canvas.' ¹

In Challenge, Grelle captures a single mounted warrior poised and prepared to engage with an adversary outside the painting's composition. Richly detailed Plains Indian decoration is on display in the figure's dress and adornments. The warrior holds a decorated war shield, intentionally small so as not to limit his range of motion when battling on horseback, and wears feather hair ornaments, bead and quill necklaces and bead-decorated buckskin leggings. The figure's feather decorated spear is aggressively thrust over his head, and his black face paint indicates that he is prepared for war, and that he is a powerful warrior who has proven himself already in battle. The warrior and horse are perfectly synchronized as they make a dramatic turn toward battle, a plume of dust kicked up by the horse enhances the action and movement of the scene. A related acrylic and charcoal drawing on paper from 2003 titled The Challenge was in The Eddie Basha Collection and sold through Bonhams in November 2019.

¹ Michael Duty, Cowboy Artists of America, Shelton, The Greenwich Workshop, 2002, p. 50.

Acrylic and oil on canvas. Under UV light examination, no evidence of restoration. No condition issues to report.

In a gilt over red clay bole and gesso molded Montgomery Frames, Tempe, Arizona frame.