Gerard Curtis Delano

Gerard Curtis Delano painted the Navajo country the way it feels at ten in the morning: monumental red walls in flat sunlight, riders in velvet blouses crossing the wash, everything composed in clean, modern planes. A New England illustrator who gave his heart to Arizona, he became, as he put it, a painter of the Navajo — and Western collectors prize the results as design of the highest order.

Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates for Delano’s work: send photographs of the front, back, and signature and our specialists will respond promptly.

Who Was Gerard Curtis Delano?

Delano was born in Marion, Massachusetts in 1890, a descendant of the old whaling Delanos, and trained in New York at the Art Students League and with the great illustrators of the day, including study under Dean Cornwell and N.C. Wyeth’s teacher Howard Pyle’s circle of successors. Magazine illustration paid his way through the 1920s.

A 1919 trip West planted the claim; by the 1930s he had homesteaded a one-room cabin in the Colorado high country and shifted from illustration to painting. Denver became his base, and the WPA years and a long association with Western magazines carried him through to his real subject.

From the 1940s his annual trips into the Navajo Nation — Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley above all — produced the flat-pattern, light-struck canvases that made his reputation. He died in Denver in 1972, and his estate’s dispersal confirmed him among the most sought-after twentieth-century painters of the Southwest.

What Did Delano Paint?

The signature Delanos are Navajo subjects: riders and flocks beneath the walls of Canyon de Chelly, women in velvet and silver, hogans under cottonwoods — composed in simplified planes of color with a designer’s discipline. Colorado mountain subjects and earlier illustration work fill out the record.

He painted in oil, and also left gouaches and drawings from the illustration decades; the mature Navajo oils are the heart of his market.

How Much Is My Gerard Curtis Delano Painting Worth?

Several things determine what a work by Gerard Curtis Delano brings at auction:

• Subject — Navajo riders and Canyon de Chelly compositions lead decisively; Colorado landscapes and illustration work trade below
• Design — his reputation is clean pattern and light — canvases where both are at full strength are the prizes
• Period — the mature post-1940 Navajo pictures stand above earlier work
• Condition — flat, even paint fields show abrasion and retouch readily
• Provenance — Denver gallery and estate history is well documented and adds confidence

The honest answer is that no two are alike, and the difference between an ordinary example and an exceptional one is a conversation with a specialist, not a chart. Send us photographs through our free auction estimate form — front, back, signature, and any labels — and we will tell you what you have.

The Market for Delano

Delano’s mature Navajo canvases bring five figures at auction as a matter of course, with the best reaching six figures in recent years — remarkable for a painter who spent decades as a working illustrator. Scarcity drives it: the mature output was measured, and collectors hold on.

Earlier and secondary works trade far more modestly, so the period question is the first one a specialist will settle — free, from photographs.

How to Sell a Work by Delano

The strongest results for a Gerard Curtis Delano painting come at auction, where national and international collectors bid against each other. Revere Auctions offers free, no-obligation auction estimates: send photos and dimensions and our specialists respond with a current market valuation and a recommendation on how to sell. Consigned works are professionally photographed, cataloged, and marketed through our fine art auctions to a worldwide bidder base, and we regularly arrange shipping for consignors across the country. If you need a formal written valuation for insurance or estate purposes, our appraisal and valuation services team can help; you can also read more about how selling at auction works.

Related: American & Western paintings, our fine art department, appraisal services, free auction estimates.

Reviewed by the fine art specialists at Revere Auctions, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Gerard Curtis Delano: Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a Gerard Curtis Delano painting worth?

Mature Navajo subjects bring five figures at auction and the best have reached six figures; earlier illustration-era work trades well below. Revere Auctions provides free auction estimates from photographs.

What is Delano known for painting?

The Navajo country — riders, flocks, and the walls of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley — composed in clean, simplified planes of sunlight and shadow from the 1940s onward.

Did Delano work as an illustrator?

Yes — he trained and worked in New York illustration through the 1920s and drew for Western magazines afterward. The illustration work trades separately from, and below, the mature oils.

Where can I sell a Gerard Curtis Delano painting?

At auction with a house that reaches Western art collectors nationally. Revere Auctions offers free estimates and formal appraisals.

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