Dance of the Eagle
By Allan Houser, Installed 1999
Allan Houser was a 20th-century American artist known for addressing his Native American heritage through painting and sculpture. A member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe, Houser fused traditional themes with Modernist aesthetics, crafting a unique abstract-figural style. Born Allan C. Haozous on June 30, 1914 near Apache, OK, he created a mural for the Department of Interior Building shortly after studying at the Painting School (part of the Santa Fe Indian School) in the 1930s. A move to Los Angeles during World War II brought him into contact with the work of Henry Moore, Constantin Brancusi, and other European artists who would later influence his practice. Among his best-known works is the large bronze sculpture Sacred Rain Arrow (1988), which features the flowing organic lines characteristic of Modernist sculpture. Houser died on August 22, 1994 in Santa Fe, NM, two years after being awarded the National Medal for the Arts. In 2004, a retrospective of his work served as the inaugural exhibition for the National Museum of the American Indian.
