Home / Native American Fine Art and Cultural Objects / FRANCIS BLACKBEAR BOSIN (1921-1980) EXHIBITED GOUACHE

FRANCIS BLACKBEAR BOSIN (1921-1980) EXHIBITED GOUACHE

5: FRANCIS BLACKBEAR BOSIN (1921-1980) EXHIBITED GOUACHE

Francis Blackbear Bosin (1921-1980)
Sing Back the Buffalo (1963)
This original gouache painting on paperboard is alternately titled Singer with Buffalo Skull and signed lower right front. On the reverse is an exhibition label from a 1982 showing at the Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art on the campus of Wichita State University.

This painting was purchased directly from the artist's estate through the artist's stepson, David Simmonds.

Blackbear Bosin was a Native American artist named for his Kiowa grandfather, a subchief named Tsate-Kongia (Blackbear), and was part Comanche as well. He served the United States in World War Two, and as an artist was largely self-taught. He created easel paintings like the example being offered here and painted murals on commission as well. His works were exhibited widely and garnered numerous awards. His three-dimensional subjects include a forty feet high Corten steel public installation in Wichita, Kansas titled Keeper of The Plains. A tabletop version of this sculpture is offered later in the auction.

A book about the artist titled Blackbear Bosin: Keeper of the Indian Spirit by David Simmonds, Ph.D. and published by Carriage Factory Gallery, Newton, Kansas Fine Arts Association Inc, 2012. is the source for the following synopsis on the artist. A self-taught artist, Blackbear Bosin (1921-1980) immortalized the spirit of a bygone era in his art. He rose to national prominence after his award winning painting Prairie Fire was published in National Geographic magazine in 1955. His works were exhibited at museums across the country, including the National Gallery and Smithsonian Institution, and in 1965 he was the only American Indian invited to the White House Festival of Arts. His sculpture 'Keeper of the Plains' stands majestically in Wichita, Kansas, at the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas rivers, considered a sacred place by Native Americans.

Exhibitions; Festival of Arts, White House, Wash., DC, 1965; Whitney Gallery of Western Art, 1966; Nat. Indian Ann., Philbrook Art Ctr., 1967; Heard Mus., 1967; Wichita Art Assn., 1971. Awards: Grand award, Philbrook Art Ctr., 1959-1963; Waite Phillips Special Indian Artists Award, 1967.


Member: Wichita Artists Guild (v. pres., 1963-1966); Wichita Advertising Assn.


Work: Wichita Art Mus.; Wichita Art Assn.; Philbrook Art Ctr.; Heard Mus., Phoenix; Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Cody, WY. Commissions: sculpture design for city, Kansas Gas & Electric, Wichita, 1969; mural, commissioned by Schafer, Schirmer & Eflin for Farmers Credit Land Bank, Wichita, 1972; painting, Southern Plains Mus., Anadarko, 1972.




Sight size measures 32 x 28 with a framed size of 42.5 x 38.25 inches.
Very good original untouched condition. There are no issues of scratches, stain, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up.
Provenance: The Susan Koehn Estate Trust Newton, Kansas
$2,000 - $3,000

Native American Fine Art and Cultural Objects

Saturday, April 22nd 2023


SOLD - $15,000

Sold Price does not include Buyer's Premium