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.
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This lavish monograph—which coincides with the National Museum of the American Indian’s exhibition "Giants of 20th-Century Native American Art: George Morrison and Allan Houser"—features over 250 full-color illustrations and photographs, as well as black and white photographs from the Houser family archive. The book is almost as monumental in scope (and size) as one of Houser’s teeming and graceful figurative sculptures: it’s the first book entirely devoted to the internationally renowned Master Artist in 16 years. University of Houston art historian Rushing begins with Houser, né Allan Capron Haozous, growing up in the aftermath of the U.S. government’s 27 year-long internment of the Apache as prisoners of war, and his 1932 departure from the Fort Sill, Okla. Apache reservation, at age 20, to study painting at the Santa Fe Indian School. Rushing highlights Houser’s conscious aim of absorbing and refracting European modernism with a decidedly critical eye, and gives crucial context to Houser’s figurative painting and sculpture.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Life and Works of a Legend,
This review is from: Allan Houser: An American Master (Chiricahua Apache, 1914-1994) (Hardcover)
This book is both beautiful and informative. It is richly illustrated with the works of this great painter and sculptor. Moreover, the text recounts Allan Houser's remarkable life, interspersed with a history of the evolution of Native American art. One does not have to be conversant with the art world to benefit from this book. Everyone should be inspired by the story of Allan Houser, the child of parents who were Chiricahua Apaches, held as prisioners of war by the United States for more than twenty years. After leaving the family farm in Oklahoma to pursue his dream of becoming an artist, Allan Houser achieved international acclaim while remaining true to his Apache heritage. You will want to read his story, and you will want to see his works.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Allan Houser's legasy,
By Antoni (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Allan Houser: An American Master (Chiricahua Apache, 1914-1994) (Hardcover)
Outstanding documentation of the art forms created by Allan Houser. A reference treasure
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