Three Women, a 1974 R.C. Gorman oil pastel, gathers three figures in a warmly saturated group on a soft neutral ground. A kneeling woman in brilliant saffron yellow anchors the composition, a second figure wrapped in pale lavender beside her, the trio composed in the round, sheltering forms that show Gorman’s early-1970s pastel work at its most luminous. The medium’s soft blending yields glowing skin tones and voluminous fabric, with the quiet gray ground letting the textiles radiate.
The 1974 date places this piece in Gorman’s period of active experimentation with oil pastel — the medium that would define his original works on paper for decades. As a one-of-a-kind signed pastel titled for its trio, it is a significant acquisition for collectors of R.C. Gorman originals, 1970s Native American fine art, and figure studies in Southwest collections.
