The collaborative exhibition Allan Houser: Tradition to Abstraction features 18 large sculptures from the Houser Estate on the Desert Botanical Garden’s grounds and an extended variety of paintings, drawings, sketches and smaller sculptures by this master artist at the Heard Museum.
Allan Houser: Tradition to Abstraction opens at the Heard Museum and Desert Botanical Garden on Saturday, November 21, 2009, following a variety of member openings and continues at the Desert Botanical Garden through May 31, 2010, and at the Heard through August 22, 2010. Generous support is provided by Chase, APS, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Casino Arizona and Emerson Network Power.
With its fluid forms, evocative shadows and intimate portrayals of life, Houser’s work has been widely recognized throughout the world. Many of Houser’s early paintings and sculpture depicted themes in Apache life inspired by stories told by his father, but toward the end of his career Houser’s sculpture became more abstract. Featured in the Heard museum’s portion of the exhibition are pieces from the Heard Museum’s collection as well as work from the Houser Foundation.
About the Artist
Born on June 30, 1914, Allan Capron Haozous become known to the world as Allan Houser. Houser was a descendant from the Fort Sill survivors of the Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache Tribe. He was immersed in the history and community of Indian people. Although he was inspired by modern sculptors such as Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, Jean Arp and Francisco Zuñiga, Houser is considered one of the best-known and celebrated American artists of the 20th century and is often referred to as the “father” of American Indian sculpture. Houser, who died in 1994, became famous for his bold statements in stone and bronze.He was also an illustrator and painter. Over the course of his artistic career, Houser never failed to create innovative new works of art.
Photographs of the artist taken throughout his lifetime will be featured in the Heard Museum’s portion of the exhibition, and a video about Houser’s life and work will give visitors a more in-depth look at his cultural influences and artistic processes. In addition to the exhibition space, other Houser pieces will be installed throughout the Heard Museum and its grounds, complementing the pieces that currently reside in the courtyards and in exhibits.
In addition to daily museum tours, tours of the exhibit and sculptures found on the grounds of the museum will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m.
Purchase Houser's Work
Patrons have the unique opportunity to purchase original works by Houser and some of his former students at the Berlin Gallery, the Heard Museum’s contemporary retail gallery. The Houser Estate has made available to the Berlin Gallery a select group of Houser bronzes that will be available for purchase during the exhibition. The Berlin Gallery represents 21 other contemporary American Indian artists, many of whom were influenced by this legendary individual.
Lenders to the Heard Museum exhibition are Anna Marie Houser and Allan Houser Inc. , while works for the Desert Botanical Garden are on loan from Allan Houser Inc. courtesy of Figarelli Fine Arts of Scottsdale, Arizona.
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