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20 Facts About Oscar Howe

1.

Oscar Howe was a Yanktonai Dakota artist from South Dakota, who became well known for his casein and tempera paintings.

2.

Oscar Howe is credited with influencing contemporary Native American art, paving the way for future artists.

3.

Oscar Howe was born in 1915 in Joe Creek, South Dakota on the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation.

4.

Oscar Howe attended the Pierre Indian School in South Dakota in 1933.

5.

In 1940 Howe was sent by the South Dakota Artists Project to Fort Sill Indian Art Center in Lawton, Oklahoma, to study mural painting techniques with Olle Nordmark.

6.

Oscar Howe met his future wife Heidi Hampel in Germany while serving overseas during World War II.

7.

Oscar Howe was discharged in 1945 and returned to the United States.

8.

Oscar Howe began with traditional Sioux "straight line" painting, based on hide and later ledger paintings of the 19th century.

9.

Oscar Howe's work has been compared to Cubism, though he rejected the neo-Cubist label in favor of situating his work firmly within Dakota epistemology.

10.

Oscar Howe painted a set of murals for the municipal auditorium in Mobridge and a mural within the dome of the Carnegie Library, now the Carnegie Resource Center, in Mitchell, South Dakota.

11.

Oscar Howe worked as an art instructor at Pierre High School in 1939.

12.

Oscar Howe became Professor of Art at the University of South Dakota, in Vermillion, South Dakota, in 1957.

13.

Survey texts and articles on Native American modern art often credit Oscar Howe with influencing the development of contemporary art in the Indian community.

14.

Oscar Howe's protest led to the acceptance of abstraction within the community.

15.

Over his 41-year career, Oscar Howe won numerous awards, including grand and first prizes.

16.

Oscar Howe's works were displayed all over the world, including Paris, France and London, England, with more than 50 solo shows.

17.

Oscar Howe was awarded the Waite Phillips trophy for outstanding contributions to American Indian art from the Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1966.

18.

Oscar Howe presented programs during his tour in nine countries.

19.

From April 17,2007, to February 17,2008, an exhibit of Oscar Howe's work was on display at the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings.

20.

From March 11 to September 11,2022, an exhibition of Oscar Howe's work was on display at the George Gustav Heye Center, the New York branch of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian.