Mora, who studied in Boston and New York and worked throughout the United States, depicted American Indians at various points in his career. This sensitive portrayal of a Navajo family was inspired by Mora’s travels in the American Southwest in 1928, just four years after all American Indians were granted United States citizenship. Mora used this drawing as a study for two paintings, one of which he subtitled "The Aristocrats, Navajo Gentry" (whereabouts unknown). He also produced a print derived from this image. (http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11592)