Allan Houser

Allan Capron Houser (1914 - 1994) was a Chiricahua Apache sculptor from Oklahoma. He was one of the most renowned Native American painters and modernist sculptors of the 20th century.

Houser's work can be found at the United Nations building in New York City, at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. and in other public buildings throughout the U.S. capital.

Born in 1914 to Sam and Blossom Haozous on the family farm in Apache, Oklahoma near Fort Sill, Native American artist Allan Houser was the first member of his family from the Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache tribe born outside of captivity since Geronimo’s 1886 surrender and the tribe's imprisonment by the U.S. government. The tribe had been led in battle by the legendary spiritual leader Geronimo, who would later rely on his grandnephew Sam Haozous, Allan’s father, to serve as his translator.

In 1934 Houser  went to the Santa Fe Indian School, where he excelled in painting, and learned other media. By the late 1930's he was awarded commissions to paint murals, some in Washington DC. In 1939, he married Anna Marie and raised five children. In 1948 he was commissioned to do a major marble piece at the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas.

In 1962 he moved to Santa Fe to teach sculpture at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Over the next 13 years, he became known for his sculptures in wood, stone and bronze. Retiring in 1975, he devoted the rest of his life to his art. Although concentrating on sculpture, he never gave up his passion to draw and paint. Allan Houser died in 1994. 

According to his family, Allan wore his beret when his photo was being taken and his cowboy hat when he was working.