CAST

Earl Biss (1947 – 1998) was a profound contributor to the explosion of Southwestern Art in the last half of the 20th century, and particularly to the rise of Contemporary Native American Art. His compelling portraits of Plains Indian horsemen, his phenomenal grasp of the medium of oil painting, and above all the sheer exuberance of his palette and brushwork earned him a place in the history books of modern art. He was, according to one Southwest critic and collector, "The greatest colorist of the 20th century."

A member of the Crow Nation - the Apsáalooke - Earl Biss found inspiration for his works in tribal  ways and history learned from the elders, and in the sweeping landscapes of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. 

Biss was a central figure in the "miracle generation" of students at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe in the 1960s. When Earl and his fellow students – which included Kevin Red Star, T.C. Cannon and Doug Hyde – arrived at IAIA, western art was focused on cowboys and landscapes, while Native art was stylized, linear and depictive. That perspective was too narrow for Biss, who studied painting with Fritz Scholder, sculpture with Allan Houser, jewelry and design with Charles Loloma, and architecture with Paolo Soleri. Inspired by these teachers, as well as fauvism, impressionism, expressionism, and other modernist movements, Biss pushed himself and his friends to create an entirely new genre that we know today as Contemporary Native American Art. 

His mastery with oils evolved over time with colors becoming richer and with unparalleled depth as he pushed the edge of what is possible in wet-in-wet technique. Expressionist - yet always giving enough imagery to ground the viewer - Earl Biss was ever the explorer.  His works are in major museums and  collected worldwide.

A Crow artist and third cousin to Earl Biss, the two share the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of the Crow culture, the Apsáalooke. Kevin was chosen to be in the first group of students of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in the 1960s. He was one of a core group coming out of IAIA that gave birth to the Contemporary Native American Art Movement. Red Star’s works are the focal point of important museum collections, including The Smithsonian Institution – National Museum of the American Indian, CM Russell Museum, Heard Museum, Denver Art Museum, Eiteljorg Museum, Southwest Museum, Whitney Museum of Western Art, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, United States Department of State, and scores of others. Pursuing a successful career spanning four decades, over one hundred large scale exhibitions have featured the celebrated artist’s works on canvas and paper.