Description

Arizona artist Melvin “Mel” Millsap (1927–2019) trained at Washington University in St. Louis, Carnegie Institute of Technology, and the Kansas City Art Institute. He built a lifelong career in the Phoenix area painting figures, landscapes, and Southwest narratives. Public work includes a 1988 commission for the City of Glendale titled The Rustlers. His paintings appear regularly at recognized auction houses, which reflects steady collector interest in his regional subject matter and approachable, story-forward style.

“The Story of the Butterfly Girl” is an original oil on canvas, 30 × 24 inches, signed MEL MILLSAP at lower right. The scene is intimate and welcoming. An elder stands before a deep red Southwest textile, with hanging corn and woven basketry nearby, sharing a story with a semicircle of children. One child looks up while cradling a carved figure. Another listens closely as the elder raises a Kachina, Katsina-style doll. A patterned rug anchors the group. The palette is warm desert peach and sandstone, with turquoise, red, and ochre accents that lift the figures from the ground plane. Brushwork is soft and confident, which keeps attention on faces, hands, and the carved forms.

The painting is presented in a handsome burl-look frame with a black outer molding and linen-style liner, wired and ready to hang. Condition is excellent. Color is vivid. Frame shows only minor, expected corner touch wear from gallery display.

This subject resonates with collectors of Southwest art, storyteller paintings, and depictions of pueblo lifeways. It reads beautifully above a console or credenza, in a study, or in hospitality settings where warmth and narrative matter.

This is a non-Native artist’s depiction of Hopi Katsina, commonly spelled Kachina in general usage. It is an oil painting of a community scene, not a ceremonial object.