Description:
Tempera on paper. Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 4.
Excerpt from American Indian Painters, Vol. 1, p. 12: The University of Oklahoma is host to a gathering of distinguished scholars from all parts of the United States. The scene is the Banquet Hall in the Union Building, the occasion, a formal dinner for the delegates at the conference. Some of the savants from the east have expressed a wish to see Indians. At the honor table, one sits in all his feathered finery, like a bird of paradise among penguins. There are raised eye-brows everywhere. The distinguished scholar on his left is polite. He addresses the aborigine slowly, in simple pidgin English... and receives grunts in reply. But it is time for the speech. The Indian rises and addresses the multitude in a scholary and polished English with the poise of an accomplished orator. No wonder ! The Indian is Acee Blue Eagle, dsitinguished painter and former professional entertainer. So few people understand thay many of our Oklahoma Indians are heirs to two cultures, and can appear with equal confidence at a formal banquet, or at an Indian war dance. We have university trained Indians who frequently perform in the native religious dances. Acee Blue Eagle is three-quarters Indian. On his mother's side, he is a descendant of the Macintosh clan from which most of the Creek chiefs came. He is one of the many Indian artists developed under our supervision at the University of Oklahoma. Acee was born in 1910 on the Indian Reservation north of Anadarko, Oklahoma. He lost his parents very early, and was brought up in the Indian tradition by his grandmother. When eight, he was taken away from his family by the Indian agent and enrolled in an Indian school. Later he attended Bacone College (Indian) and spent two years at the University of Oklahoma. Being a great entertainer and mimic, he was on the stage for two or three seasons, but art won. In 1932, we persuaded him to send an entry to the International Exhibit of Sports Subjects held in conjunction with the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He was awarded fourth prize in the watercolor section, competing against four hundred twenty artists from twelve countries. In 1934, he painted o large canvas, "Indian Buffalo Hunt", which was hung in the library of the U.S.S. Oklahoma, of Pearl Harbor tragedy. He painted murals at several colleges in Oklahoma under the P.W.A.P. A little later, he illustrated a book by Ada Loomis Barry. The volume was sent to the Oxford University Press in 1935. As a consequence, Acee was called to England where he gave a series of lectures at Oxford and elsewhere. After his return to America, he was appointed art teacher at Bacone College, a position he held with distinction for some three years. He was in the army for three years but did not serve overseas. Of all the Indian artists, Acee is perhaps the most brilliant raconteur. His work has been exhibited everywhere in America, and his biography appears in "Who's Who in American Art", "Indian Hall of Fame", and so forth.
"The Prophet" is as heroically dignified as a Pontiac or Black Hawk of old. Acee's use of strong blacks, in the priest's hair, scarlet breech cloth, and yellow decorated robe produces a dramatic effect. The two assistants form a perfect balance in the manner of the old Italian masters of the Quatrocento.