R.C. Gorman, Navajo artist

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Famed Navajo artist R.C. Gorman, dubbed "the Picasso of American art" by the New York Times, died Thursday. He was 74.

His death was announced by Gov. Bill Richardson at a news conference in Santa Fe and confirmed by his gallery and the hospital where he had been since September.

"New Mexico loses a great citizen and the world loses a great artist," Richardson said.

Gorman, who had been ill with a blood infection and pneumonia, was surrounded by family and friends when he died at 12:20 p.m. at University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.

Gorman was internationally renowned for paintings and sculptures of graceful female figures, often depicted as generously sized and draped in a blanket.

"I revere women. They are my greatest inspiration," Gorman said in a 1998 interview at his studio north of Taos.

His work was collected by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Andy Warhol, among others.

"It's a big loss; he's going to be sorely missed," said Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. "He contributed greatly to the great name of the Navajo Nation. He afforded us the opportunity to talk about ourselves to the world. When they took an interest in him, they also took an interest in our nation."

- Associated Press