Native Modernism: The Art of George Morrison and Allan Houser

Native Modernism accompanied the inaugural exhibitions of solo Native artists at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, pairing Ojibwe painter George Morrison with Chiricahua Apache sculptor Allan Houser. Together the two argue that a Native artist could be fully modern, Morrison through his abstract horizons and driftwood collages, Houser through the smooth, sweeping stone and bronze figures that made him one of the most celebrated sculptors to come out of the Santa Fe Indian School.

Edited by Truman T. Lowe and published in 2004 by the museum with the University of Washington Press, the volume gathers essays and a generous run of plates; Houser's flowing draped figure graces the cover. The back cover's photographs, Morrison among his wood pieces and Houser at work on a monumental carving, frame the book's argument about two careers. For students of twentieth-century Native American art, this first edition is a cornerstone reference printed to high standards in Italy.