Chili a la Mode

Chili a la Mode, a 2003 R.C. Gorman lithograph, celebrates the chile harvest with a seated Navajo woman in a cream dress cradling a vivid, meandering ristra of red, green, and orange chiles across her lap and trailing onto the warm ivory ground beside her. Her long dark hair is tied with a bright turquoise ribbon and a matching red earring accents her ear. Gorman contrasts the lush complexity of the glossy chile pods with her minimalist white robe, letting the brilliant chile reds, greens, and golds explode against the neutral palette. Signed and numbered from a limited edition, Chili a la Mode is a late-career Gorman highlight and a beloved acquisition for collectors of Gorman chile imagery, Southwest harvest art, and Native American fine art lithographs.