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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
Seminole Making Sofkey Fred Beaver Native American; Muscogee (Creek), Seminole 02.531 tempera on mat board
Prayer to the Sun Parker Boyiddle Jr. Native American; Kiowa, Delaware 01.2505 acrylic on canvas
Cactus Flower Beatien Yazz Native American; Navajo (Diné) 02.62 tempera on paper
Eagle Dancer F. Blackbear Bosin Native American; Comanche, Kiowa 02.461 tempera on paper
Keeper of the Fire Benjamin Harjo Jr. Native American; Absentee Shawnee, Seminole 02.1803 ink on paperboard
How the Boy Medicine Came to the Kiowas Jimalee Chitwood Burton Native American; Cherokee 01.1938 oil on board
APR '55 Bobby C. Martin Native American; Muscogee (Creek) 01.2503 mixed media on canvas
Ceramic bottle Annie Healing Nampeyo Native American; Hopi Tewa 54.4420 clay
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