1. Edith Mahier was an American artist and art instructor who was instrumental in helping develop the talent of the Kiowa Six during their studies at the University of Oklahoma.
17 Facts About Edith Mahier
1. 2.
Edith Albina Mahier was born on December 14,1892, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Henry and Maud B Mahier.
3.
In 1917, Edith Mahier was hired as an art teacher at the University of Oklahoma for the salary of $80 per month.
4.
Edith Mahier was a member of Gamma Phi Beta In 1919, when Tulane created the Bachelor of Design degree, Mahier and other prior students whose work was of special merit were retroactively awarded the degree.
5.
Edith Mahier later studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts under George Bridgman.
6.
Edith Mahier, who was known as "Eli" to her students, taught while continuing to create her own artwork.
7.
Edith Mahier was asked to exhibit at the Paris Salon in 1925 and was the first American and first woman to study fresco at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.
8.
In 1926, Edith Mahier met with Susie Peters and two Kiowa artists, Spencer Asah and Jack Hokeah.
9.
Since the Kiowa artists did not meet the entrance requirements and Jacobson was convinced their natural talent needed only coaching, Edith Mahier allowed them to use her office as a studio and gave them a balance of criticism and encouragement.
10.
Edith Mahier was forbidden to give instruction on abstract techniques, perspective, or shading, but guided them with discussions about anatomy, including the question of whether Indians had six fingers, and comments about rhythm and design elements.
11.
Edith Mahier began teaching a two-year fashion drawing course in 1938 when the university created a new five-year degree program, Art for Industry, which became the Fashion Arts curriculum in 1941 under her direction.
12.
That same year, Edith Mahier won the federal commission to paint a mural for the post office mural project for the US Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts at the Watonga, Oklahoma, facility.
13.
Edith Mahier was the only Oklahoma woman to paint murals in Oklahoma as part of the project.
14.
Edith Mahier's painting, Roman Nose Canyon, shows Cheyenne Chief Henry Roman Nose in the center of the painting with a rifle, accompanied by his family and other Cheyenne.
15.
Edith Mahier founded and became the faculty advisor of a fashion fabrication organization called "Shadowbox", in which students and manufacturers could work together on innovations.
16.
Edith Mahier completed her OU tenure as the head of the fashion and textiles department, retiring in 1963.
17.
At the time of her death, Edith Mahier was living in the Williamsburg which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.