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Browse: Native American Artists

Thomas Gilcrease sought to tell the story of America through art, with an emphasis on Native American cultures and the history of the American West. The museum founder’s fundamental interest in Native cultures was due in part to his own Muscogee ancestry. Evidence of his interest is dramatically illustrated by the vast amount of Native art and cultural items he gathered. Collectors of Native American art objects often place a premium on them in accordance with their relative age. Gilcrease knew the value of that practice, yet he also knew the importance of collecting contemporary Native art. He was patron to numerous artists of his time and purchased over 500 paintings by 20th-century Native artists. As a result, the museum not only tells the story of Native Americans through exhibition of objects thousands of years old, but also through modern paintings and sculptures.

Image Title Creator Culture Accession # Materials/Techniques
Collision of Heavenly Structures Norman Akers, born October 25, 1958, Native American; Osage, Pawnee (Artist) Native American; Osage, Pawnee 01.2486 oil on canvas
Pueblo Green Corn Dance Fred Kabotie Native American; Hopi 01.1962 oil on canvas
Buffalo at Sunset John Nieto Native American; Mescalero Apache 14.940 ink on paper
White Swan muslin cutting White Swan Native American; Apsáalooke (Crow) 02.589 watercolor, ink and graphite on muslin
The Sign in the Fall Stephen Mopope, August 27, 1898 - February 1974, Native American; Kiowa (Artist) Native American; Kiowa 02.334 tempera on paper
Deer Woodrow Wilson Crumbo Native American; Citizen Potawatomi 02.1703 tempera on paper
Creek Chiefs Acee Blue Eagle Native American; Muscogee (Creek), Pawnee 02.469 tempera on mat board
Chief and Friends Monroe Tsatoke Native American; Kiowa 02.511 tempera on paper
Peyote Religious Ceremony Woodrow Wilson Crumbo Native American; Citizen Potawatomi 02.577 tempera on paper
Sneaking Out Allan C. Houser Native American; Chiricahua Apache 02.597 tempera on paper
Preparation for the Ribbon Dance Solomon McCombs Native American; Muscogee (Creek) 02.1674 tempera on mat board
Creek Indian Ceremonial Dance Solomon McCombs, John C. Hillyer Native American; Muscogee (Creek) 02.1716 tempera on paper
Medicine Woman Ruthe Blalock Jones, born June 8, 1939, Native American; Delaware, Shawnee, Peoria (Artist) Native American; Delaware, Shawnee, Peoria 02.1942 tempera on mat board
Forest Scene Pop Chalee Native American; Taos Pueblo 02.527 tempera on paper
Chief Little Raven on His War Pony Carl Sweezy Native American; Arapaho 02.288 tempera on paper
Corn Dance Tonita Peña Native American; San Ildefonso 02.540 tempera on paper
Woman in Window T. C. Cannon Native American; Caddo, Kiowa 14.878 ink on paper
For John Ridge Kay WalkingStick Native American; Cherokee 01.2528 acrylic, ink and saponifed wax on canvas
International Peace Effort Willard Stone, Willard Stone Native American; Cherokee 11.55 cherry wood
Gathering Corn Norma Howard Native American; Choctaw, Chickasaw 02.1949 tempera on paper