Spencer Research Library to showcase historic Kiowa artwork

LAWRENCE — Nearly a century ago, a group of Kiowa artists gained international attention for an artistic vision that challenged convention and offered a distinctly Kiowa perspective. Kenneth Spencer Research Library is featuring the “Kiowa Indian Art” portfolio in a new exhibit titled “Cáuigù Gù:t.” 

Visitors can learn more about the collection and hear from the curator at a public event from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 10 at the library.

The exhibition highlights works from the 1929 “Kiowa Indian Art” portfolio from artists Monroe Tsatoke, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois (Bougetah) Smoky and Spencer Asah.  

Phil Cunningham, Kansas Collection curator at Spencer Library and curator of the exhibit, said the title, “Cáuigù Gù:t,” pronounced koy-goo goot, means “Kiowa art” in the Kiowa language.  

“The portfolio jumped off the shelves into my hands, demanding to be displayed publicly,” Cunningham said. “The vivid colors shine almost a century later.” 

In 1928, the Kiowa artists reached an international audience when their works were exhibited at the International Congress for Art Education in Prague. A year later, the French art press, l’Edition d’Art C. Szwedzicki, published a portfolio using the pochoir technique, a stencil-based process that translated the original works into print reproductions, with artisans painting some of the smaller details by hand.  

Cunningham said the resulting images reflect the era in which they were created and demonstrate how the artists sought to preserve their contemporary experiences while breaking from European influences in both style and theme.  

The success of the “Kiowa Indian Art” portfolio led to the publication of five additional portfolios of Native American art. Of the six portfolios produced between 1929 and 1952, KU Libraries holds five in its collections. 

About the Spencer Research Library

Located between Strong Hall and Memorial Drive, just uphill from the Campanile, Spencer Research Library is home to KU Libraries’ special collections, archives and rare books. Open to all students, faculty, visiting researchers and the general public, Spencer Library’s collections tell stories from KU, Kansas and around the world, ranging from 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets to more than 1 million photographs documenting the history of KU.  

Parking and access information is available through the library’s Visit page.