Morning Prayer Allan Houser was a sculptor and painter who altered expectations of Native American artists in the 20th century. Houser is known as the patriarch of Native American contemporary fine art and is credited with pushing Native American sculpture into the modern era without sacrificing its traditional and enduring quality.
Morning Prayer was originally shown as part of the 2001 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship (then called the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art). That year, Allan Houser was awarded the designation of Distinguished Artist posthumously.
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Myaamionki, Seekaahkwiaanki and Oonseentia Gerald Clarke states that his “ultimate goal as an artist is to give Indian culture back the humanity that has been taken from it by stereotypes created over the past five centuries…In my work, I look for the unconventional beauty one finds only in TRUTHS. It celebrates, it mourns, and it outshines all else.”
Clarke created these three signs for the Eiteljorg Museum’s 2007 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship (then called the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art) , connecting with Native peoples of this region and addressing them as his audience. The signs are written in Miami and were created in collaboration with Scott Shoemaker, a Miami artist and historian.
This artwork is currently in storage and not visible.
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Southwest Summer Showers Doug Hyde (Nez Perce, Chippewa, and Assiniboine) was born in 1946, studied and taught at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is well-known for monumental works in California, Arizona, and elsewhere. He sensitively portrays Native peoples in a way that conveys pride and dignity. He is best known for his work in stone and for bold bronze castings with brightly colored patinas. His work is in the collections of major museums throughout the country, including the Smithsonian Institution. The woman holding the umbrella in this sculpture wears traditional Southwestern clothing and jewelry.
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Watercarrier Allen Houser’s Watercarrier was created in 1986 and is the 8th in an edition of 8 identical bronze sculptures. On loan from a private collection, Watercarrier is one of two Houser sculptures featured on the Christel DeHaan Terrace at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. The monumental piece features an abstracted Native American woman balancing a container of water on her head. Watercarrier is an example of Houser’s use of elegant abstractions to depict Native American subjects.
Allan Houser (1914-2004) was a Chiricahua Apache sculptor, painter, and book illustrator born in Oklahoma. He is considered one of the most renowned Native American painters and Modernist sculptors of the 20th century. As the father of contemporary Native American sculpture, Houser was instrumental in helping generations of artists discover and express themselves in contemporary media through a uniquely Native perspective. Houser’s work can be found at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC., and in numerous major museum collections throughout North America, Europe, and Japan.
Wisdom Keepers Bruce LaFountain was raised on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. He is of Chippewa, French and Cree and often refers to himself as Metis. Drawing on his Native American heritage, he feels like sculpture is a meditative process that allows him to chip away at his materials until he the excess gone and he can see the simple truth and spirituality of his subject. Wisdom Keepers reflects both LaFountain’s heritage and spirituality with the warrior transforming into an eagle.
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