Archie Blackowl was a Cheyenne

Cheyenne

Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...

 painter from Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 who played a pivotal role in mid-20th century Native American art

Native American art

Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present...

.

Background

Archie Blackowl was born in Custer County, Oklahoma

Custer County, Oklahoma

Custer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It was named in honor of General George Armstrong Custer. As of 2000, the population was 26,142. Its county seat is Arapaho.-Geography:...

, on November 23, 1911 and died on September 15, 1992, in Stillwater, Oklahoma

Stillwater, Oklahoma

Stillwater is a city in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. 177 and State Highway 51. It is the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 45,688. Stillwater is the principal city of the Stillwater Micropolitan Statistical...

. Blackowl was survived by ten children.

Blackowl is generally considered to be one of the important Oklahoma traditional painters. Blackowl's work captures the traditional Southern Plains culture and life. The paintings, generally in tempera or mixed media depict scenes of dancers or ceremonies in the Flat style of the Dorothy Dunn

Dorothy Dunn

Dorothy Dunn Kramer was an American art instructor who created The Studio School at the Santa Fe Indian School.-Background:Dunn was born on 2 December 1903 in Pottawatomie County, Kansas and educated in Chicago. She first encountered Native American art at the Field Museum in Chicago in 1925...

 school or Bacone style

Bacone College

Bacone College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by Almon C. Bacone, Bacone College is the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma...

 of painting. Blackowl was best known for his stylized dancers adorned with traditional regalia and lack of backgrounds, as well as works upon the unforgiving blackboard. Blackowl's devotion to traditional style flat painting earned him the honor of Living Legend by Ralph Oliver in 1990.

Blackowl, was educated at Haskell Indian Nations University

Haskell Indian Nations University

Haskell Indian Nations University is a tribal university located in Lawrence, Kansas, for members of federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States...

, studied under Olaf Nordmark. Blackowl was a muralist and studio painter, who began painting actively and professionally in the early 1930s.

Blackowl has inspired many contemporary artists across the midwest and southwest. His art is a legacy to which many young Native artists look to for information of tradition and technical skills. Original paintings and prints are still available.

Career and honors

Blackowl's works are included in such museum collections as the Gilcrease Museum

Gilcrease Museum

Gilcrease Museum is a museum located northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum now houses the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West as well as a growing collection of art and artifacts from Central and South America...

 in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

, the Millicent Rogers Museum

Millicent Rogers Museum

In 1956, the Millicent Rogers family founded the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico. Initially the artworks were from the multi-cultural collections of Millicent Rogers and her mother, Mary B. Rogers, who donated many of the first pieces of Taos Pueblo art...

 in Taos, New Mexico

Taos, New Mexico

Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...

, and the Sequoyah Research Center

Sequoyah Research Center

The Seqouyah National Research Center , located in Little Rock, Arkansas, is home of the American Native Press Archives . ANPA is one of the largest repositories of Native American publications in the world. The Center is also home to the J.W...

 in Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...

. Blackowl's work is also in many private collections nationwide.