The Jacobson House Native Art Center launches 2009 with a powerful exhibition, “Monroe Tsatoke and the Art of the Kiowa Five,” on view January 18th – February 28, 2009.  Guest-curated by Shannon Bever (Choctaw), a Master’s Degree Candidate in Museum Studies at the University of Oklahoma.  The exhibition features the artwork of the renowned Kiowa painter Monroe Tsatoke (1904 - 1937), as well as photographs chronicling the short life of this gifted painter, who was also an accomplished bead worker and singer.  An opening reception will be held at the Jacobson House Native Art Center on January 18th from 2 – 6 p.m.

Tsatoke was a member of a talented group of Kiowa artists from Anadarko who were invited to study art during the 1920’s at the University of Oklahoma by Oscar Brousse Jacobson (1882 - 1966), the founding director of the university’s School of Art.  This group of artists that came to be known as the “Kiowa Five” was actually six artists in total: Spencer Asah (1905 or 1910-1954); Jack Hokeah (1902-1969); Stephen Mopope (1898-1974); Monroe Tsatoke (1904-1937); and Lois (Bougetah) Smoky (1907-1981), the youngest and only female member of the group, who was later replaced by James Auchiah (1906-1974).

The Kiowa Five gained their first national recognition in 1927 when Oscar Jacobson exhibited their work at the convention of the American Federation of the Arts in Denver. In 1928, Jacobson organized a traveling exhibition of the Kiowa artists’ works, which he sent to the First International Art Exposition in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The Kiowa artists’ trip to Europe with Jacobson would prove to be perhaps the most important exhibition in the history of Native art.

As the Kiowa Five’s fame grew, it was increasingly obvious that Tsatoke and Mopope were the most prolific artists of the group. Unfortunately, as his painting skills grew stronger Tsatoke was developing tuberculosis and was increasingly sick. During this time, Tsatoke joined the Peyote faith. He became a member of the Native American Church and began a series of paintings that depicted his religious experiences. Tsatoke continued to work through his sickness, refusing to let the tuberculosis get the better of him. In 1934, he was commissioned by the Oklahoma Historical Society to paint a series of murals, in which he featured numerous personal images, including religious symbols, and two of his family shields. He worked on these murals until his death from tuberculosis in 1937 when he became the first member of the Kiowa Five to pass away.

Just before his death, Tsatoke was noted as saying: “In the art of painting there is a new day dawning for the tradition is equipped with power and possibilities capable of immeasurable development. God has planted a tremendous hungering…for just such development…God surely would never plant a hunger he would not satisfy. The Indian’s longing for power to achieve, to create, to do great things so his people will be better understood, will have a glorious realization in the future.” In 1950, Oscar Jacobson produced a portfolio featuring the best of the Native American art, including art by Tsatoke, to whom the portfolio was dedicated.

The exhibition was made possible by generous support from the Oklahoma Arts Council and the Norman Arts Council. For more information, call (405) 366-1667, or visit www.jacobsonhouse.com.