Curated by Matthew D. Davids, administrator of art collections
“And They Were Moved, Westward,” by Davids Williams, a 1969 Flatstyle painting. Gouache on Colored Matte Board. 8 by 10 inches.
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Curator’s statement
The Bacone School version of Flatstyle is a pivotal art form that still influences art today.
Look at the artwork, and see how color is an important aspect in this style and how it confers specific meanings to the artwork.
See how the movement in the art can be used to convey the feelings of the subjects in the artwork.
The visual perspective in the artwork can be felt through the detail and background, creating the two-dimensional perspective that defines Flatstyle.
About the exhibit
“Kiowa Dog Soldiers,” a 2012 acrylic Flatstyle painting by Virginia Stroud. 29 inches by 25 inches.
Flatstyle art is a Native American painting style from the 20th century with a distinctive look that emphasizes form or shape and features either minimal or no perspective and shading. The Bacone Style, the focus of this exhibit, refers to a type of Flatstyle art from the 1930s through the 1980s that originated from Bacone College in Muskogee, OK.
Other Flatstyle painting types include:
The Southern Plains Style, made popular in the 1920s by the Kiowa Six, another group of Oklahoma artists.
Studio Style, taught at the Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico from the 1930s to the early 1960s.
San Ildefonso School, used primarily during the 1910s through 1940s in New Mexico.
Bacone School style
The Flatstyle of Bacone School art promotes more movement or action, brighter colors and visual perspective.
Artists paid careful attention to the correctness of the subject, and all aspects of the artwork emphasized the artist's skill.
The colors used in the art told a story, and the artist used them to emphasize certain characteristics in the artwork or to represent an emotion. Often, blues denoted memory or sorrow.
In this exhibit, not every piece adheres to the Bacone School style strictly, but they all carry impressions of the Bacone School’s influence in visual perspective, movement or action and brighter colors.
Artists
The exhibit consists of notable Bacone School artists:
“Moon Of The Pheasant Dance,” a 1975 oil-on-canvas flatstyle painting by Joan Hill. 27 inches by 37 inches.
Acee Blue Eagle
Albert Harjo
Archie Blackowl
Cecil Dick
David E. Williams
Doc Tate Nevaquaya
Fred Beaver
Jerome Tiger
Joan Hill
Lee Joshua
Marrs Biggoose
Richard “Dick” West Sr.
Ruthe Blalock Jones
Sharron Ahtone Harjo
Virginia Stroud
Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Crumbo
Museums that have a broad collection of Bacone School art include the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City and The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa.
Questions to consider
When you look at the artwork in this exhibit, take a closer look at the colors. What do you see?
What do you believe the colors in the artwork are meant to symbolize or represent? What are the subjects of the artwork trying to convey? Is there a specific meaning to why the artwork was created in this way? If so, what might it be?
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