Lizette

“Lizette,” a 1973 oil pastel by R.C. Gorman, is one of his most spare and meditative compositions: a kneeling figure seen mostly from behind, draped in a large pale white shawl, with only the barest touches of red-crimson and soft purple-violet pastel accenting the contour lines. The face, rendered in warm brown tones, is barely visible in profile, turned slightly downward. The nearly blank white ground offers no horizon, no shadow, no distraction, only the rounded, monumental form of the figure in repose. This restraint is typical of Gorman’s early pastel work, where silence and economy speak louder than color or detail. A distinguished piece for collectors of early Gorman oil pastels, Southwest fine art, and Native American figurative works.