Spencer Asah (c. 1906–1956) was a

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...

painter and a member of the Kiowa Six from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Early life

Spencer Asah was born in 1906 in Carnegie, Oklahoma. His Kiowa name was Lallo (Little Boy). His father was a buffalo medicine man. Asah's father provided him with extensive cultural information that he later used in his art. Asah attended St. Patrick's Mission School in

Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in and the county seat of Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is 50 miles (80.5 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. History Anadarko got its name when its post offic ...

, where he received his first art instruction from Sister Olivia Taylor, a

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

nun. Government field matron Susie Peters arranged for Mrs. Willie Baze Lane, an artist from

Chickasha, Oklahoma Chickasha is a city in and the county seat of Grady County, Oklahoma, Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,051 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 0.1% increase from 2010. The city is named for and strongly ...

, to provide further art instruction for young Kiowa artists, including Asah. Recognizing the talent of some of the young artists, Peters convinced Swedish-American artist Oscar Jacobson, director of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

's School of Art, to accept the Kiowa students into a special program at the school,Pochoir prints of ledger drawings by the Kiowa Five, 1929.
''Smithsonian Institution Research Information System.'' (retrieved 24 April 2009) in which they were coached and encouraged by

Edith Mahier Edith Mahier (1892 – 1967) was an American artist and art instructor who was instrumental in helping develop the talent of the Kiowa Six during their studies at the University of Oklahoma. In 1941, she won the commission to complete the United ...

Kiowa Six

The Kiowa Six, included five artists: Spencer Asah, James Auchiah,

Jack Hokeah Jack Hokeah (December 4, 1901 - December 14, 1969) was a Kiowa painter, one of the Kiowa Six, from Oklahoma. Early life Jack Hokeah was born in 1901 in western Oklahoma.Lester, 239 He was orphaned at a very young age and raised by his grandmother ...

Stephen Mopope Stephen Mopope (1898–1974) was a Kiowa painter, dancer, and Native American flute player from Oklahoma. He was the most prolific member of the group of artists known as the Kiowa Six.Watson, Mary JoMopope, Stephen (1898-1974). ''Oklahoma Histor ...

, Lois Smoky Kaulaity, and

Monroe Tsatoke Monroe Tsatoke (1904–1937) was a Kiowa painter and a member of the Kiowa Six from Oklahoma.Watson, Mary JoTsatoke, Monroe (1904-1937). ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' (Oklahoma Historical Society, 2009) Early life Monroe Tsato ...

. In 1926, Asah, Hokeah, Tsatoke, Mopope, and Smoky moved to

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

and began their art studies at OU. Smoky returned home late in 1927, while Auchiah joined the group that year. In 1928, the Kiowa Six had their major breakthrough into the international fine arts' world by exhibiting at the First International Art Exposition in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Czechoslovakia. Dr. Jacobson arranged for their work to be shown in several other countries and for ''Kiowa Art'', a portfolio of pochoir print artists' paintings, to be published in France. Towards the late 1920s, their critically acclaimed watercolor art works were being shown throughout the United States and Europe.

Public collections

Asah's work can be found in the following public art collections: *Anadarko City Museum *

Denver Art Museum The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is an art museum located in the Civic Center of Denver, Colorado. With an encyclopedic collection of more than 70,000 diverse works from across the centuries and world, the DAM is one of the largest art museums betwe ...

Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gr ...

Heard Museum The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...

*Indian Arts and Crafts Board,

US Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

*Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Denman Collection * The George Gustav Heye Center * McNay Art Museum *

Museum of Northern Arizona The Museum of Northern Arizona is a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, established as a repository for Indigenous material and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau. The museum was founded in 1928 by zoologist Dr. Harol ...

*Museum of Northern Arizona, Katherine Harvey Collection * Museum of New Mexico *Oklahoma Science and Art Foundation, Gerrer Collection * Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art *

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his ...

*Southern Plains Indian Museum * Woolaroc Museum

Later life

Spencer Asah was a traditional singer and dancer who was active in Oklahoma's

powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native Americans in the United States, Native American and First Nations in Canada, First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity fo ...

circuit. Asah married Ida, a Comanche woman, with whom he had three children. He died in 1954.Wyckoff, 65

Notes

References

*Lester, Patrick D. ''The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. . *Lydia L. Wyckoff, ed. ''Visions and voices : Native American painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art''. Tulsa, OK: Philbrook Museum of Art, 1996.

External links

Spencer Asah, article from the Oklahoma Historical Society

Jacobson House Native Art Center: About the Kiowa Six
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asah, Spencer Kiowa male artists Kiowa painters Painters from Oklahoma People from Carnegie, Oklahoma 20th-century births 1954 deaths Year of birth uncertain People from Norman, Oklahoma People from Anadarko, Oklahoma