The Art of Howard Terpning

The seminal collection of paintings from Howard Terpning, master painter of the Plains Indians.

The seminal collection of paintings from Howard Terpning, the undisputed master painter of the Plains Indians, and history by award-winning Elmer Kelton.

Publishers Weekly

Terpning's most effective paintings of the Plains Indians have an unaffected simplicity and quiet strength. Too often, however, the Arizona-based artist purveys a romanticized view of Native Americans striking noble poses. His gift for storytelling enlivens many of these pictures, such as a study of Cheyenne vision-seekers keeping a vigil in the hope that a spirit-guide will appear. Other works have ethnographic value, like the portrait of a young Cheyenne girl undergoing a ceremonial initiation into womanhood, or a depiction of Arapahos doing the Ghost Dance, a desperate mystical ritual intended to make the white man go away and the buffalo herds return. This lavishly illustrated album also features numerous historical paintings, including scenes of the Army's pursuit of Geronimo and other Apaches in 1886. In his engaging text, Kelton, a journalist and chronicler of the American West, discusses various tribes' origins, symbols, customs, child-rearing practices and the status of women. (Aug.)

Elmer Kelton has written over forty books, four of which won the Western Heritage Award including The Art of Howard Terpning (Greenwich Workshop Press) He has won numerous awards and the Texas Legislature proclaimed Elmer Kelton Day in April 1997. He and his wife of over fifty years live near San Angelo, Texas, about 130 miles from where he was born and raised.

Howard Terpning: is one of the most lauded painters of Western art. Accolades he has received throughout his esteemed career include: countless awards from Cowboy Artists of America, the Hubbard Art Award for Excellence, the National Academy of Western Art’s Prix de West and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Autry National Center.
Terpning’s passion, devotion and respect for his subject matter, his extraordinary talent in palette and brushstroke, combined with an exceptional ability to evoke emotion both in his paintings and from those viewing them has earned him the title of “Storyteller of the Native American.”
Born in Illinois and educated at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the American Academy of Art, he first gained attention with his captivating advertising and story illustrations. Film fans praised his movie posters for such classics as The Sound of Music, Dr. Zhivago and the re-issue of Gone with the Wind. But his love of the West and Native American traditions saw his transition to fine art. Terpning, Emeritus member of the Cowboy Artists of America, was active for 22 years during which time he was presented with a total of 41 awards. His book, The Art of Howard Terpning won the Wrangler “Outstanding Art Book” award from the National Cowboy Hallof Fame. Terpning was recently honored with a one-man show at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana featuring 30 of the artist’s most distinguished works where he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This career milestone was further celebrated with the publication of Spirit of the Plains People (2001, Greenwich Workshop Press). Terpning is the recipient of the Autry National Center, 2005 Masters of the American West Thomas Moran Memorial Award, given in recognition of exceptional artistic merit for painting.