Houser, Allan: An American Master(Chi: Chiricahua Apache, 1914-1994 - Hardcover

III, W.Jackso Rushing

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810943263 ISBN 13: 9780810943261

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2004

Synopsis

Allan Houser (Haozous, in his native language) was a Chiricahua Apache, whose family once belonged to Geronimo's guerrilla band. After the remnants of this group were released in 1913 from decades of internment by the United States Government, the artist's family moved to a farm in Oklahoma, where Houser was born in 1914. In his teens, Houser attended the Santa Fe Indian School, where he first studied art. Although immersed in Apache tradition, as a student Houser was fascinated by art from all over the world, and he resisted the school's attempt to force him to work in what was considered the proper "Native American style" of flat forms, bright colors, and "Indian" subjects. Instead, he mastered a number of styles, from straightforward representation to abstraction, and throughout his career remained alert to developments in the work of his contemporaries. Houser's sculpture, considered his finest work, can be seen in many collections both in the United States and abroad. Among his most famous works are Sacred Rain Arrow, which welcomed athletes to the 2002 Winter Olympics, and Offering of the Sacred Pipe, which was created for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. In 1992, Houser because the first Native American to receive the United States' highest art award, the National Medal of Arts. A retrospective exhibition of Houser's work will inaugurate the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian in September 2004, and will surely generate new interest in this truly American artist.

About this title

About the Author

W. Jackson Rushing III is a noted authority on twentieth-century Native American art. He received his Ph.D. in art history at the University of Texas at Austin, and has published numerous books and articles on Native American art, focusing particularly on its relationship to twentieth-century modernism. He is Professor of Art History in the Department of Art at the University of Houston.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810943263
• ISBN 13: 9780810943261
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256