Louis Benton Akin (1868–1913) was an American painter and illustrator of the early twentieth century. He is best known for his landscapes of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

and his depictions of

Hopi The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...

cultural life. Akin was born in Portland, Oregon, on June 6, 1868. He began his early career there as a sign painter. In 1893, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to attend art school at the Art League of New York. For the following several years he worked as an illustrator for books and magazines. However, an obituary characterized his work during this time as, "not very important." Around 1903, Akin relocated to the

Hopi Reservation The Hopi Reservation () is a Native American reservation for the Hopi and Arizona Tewa people, surrounded entirely by the Navajo Nation, in Navajo and Coconino counties in northeastern Arizona, United States. The site has a land area of 2,53 ...

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the ...

. He lived with the Hopi for a few years and painted many aspects of their daily life. By 1905 he was showing his works in New York City, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. His work generated general interest, but some critics had reservations about its overall quality. In the same year, his talent was discovered by Arizona Railways that funded him to portrait a sketch on Indians to highlight significance of the region as a tourist destination. He toured the area to paint his famed paintings Hopi and other life-depicting portraits. His artwork depicting the life of Indians were admiringly adopted by the Railways advertisement printouts. For the rest of his life, Akin alternated time between New York City and Arizona, with a few trips to North American wilderness areas. Akin became known for numerous landscapes of the Grand Canyon, but also painted the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

and Glacier National Park. In 1911, the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

granted Akin a commission to paint murals for the museum's "Southwest Room." The murals were to depict Hopi cultural life and nearby landscapes. Akin died before completing the murals, but his

studies Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...

were exhibited posthumously in New York and Flagstaff. Akin died of pneumonia on January 2, 1913, in Flagstaff, Arizona. He was 44.

References

External links

Louis Akin Biography

Louis Benton Akin (1868-1913) Biography

Louis Benton Akin (1868-1913)

Louis Akin (1868 - 1913)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akin, Louis 1868 births 1913 deaths Southwestern artists Artists from Portland, Oregon

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External links