Judge Hartmann

Mary Sully's personality portraits were created in New York City, where the artist lived with her sister Ella Deloria, the first Native American woman ethnographer. Exposed to an art world of abstraction, modernism, and Art Nouveau, Sully drew upon these genres and infused Dakota aesthetics in conversation with them. In this work, Sully creates a personality portrait of Judge Hartman, a noted judge in New York City, who devoted his life to Jewish causes, and the Israel Orphan Asylum that he established. A haven for orphaned children, many who lost their parents from war, Sully's imagines the personality of Hartman as a white amphitheater that shelters young plants to allow them to grow, like the children he serves. Using the designs from the top panel, Sully draws upon Art Nouveau for the middle panel, where white wings are animated with action and flight. Finally, Sully uses the bottom panel to link to Dakota aesthetic designs, abstracted thoughts that reference Dakota values of family and relationships.