Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SELF PORTRAIT TWO GUN

Date

1958

Materials

CANVAS, WOOD

No. Pieces

1

Length

26.7

Width

20.3

Description

TITLED "SELF PORTAIT BY...'58" WITH OUTLINE OF 2 RIFLES, LL, THE SYMBOL USED BY NATIVE ARTIST TWO GUN. FEATURES PORTRAIT, BUST LEFT PROFILE OF ARTIST IN HEADDRESS & TRADITIONAL REGALIA.

Subjects

INDIGENOUS

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

BLACKFOOT, TWO GUN IS THE NOM DE PLUME FOR PERCY PLAIN WOMAN (1895-1961). *UPDATE* NICOLE HEMBROFF, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT, INTERVIEWED RON BATSFORD (NEPHEW OF WILLIAM BLACKER) AS PART OF A SURVEY OF PALLET RACKING CONDUCTED IN 2010. BATSFORD ALSO SHARED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PAINTING. SEE BELOW. ACCORDING TO RON BATSFORD, THE PAINTING WAS A GIFT FROM SOMEONE ON THE RESERVE. ACCORDING TO BATSFORD, WILLIAM BLACKER "DROVE FOR THE LETHBRIDGE LAUNDRY IN THE 1930S. HE WENT OUT TO THE RESERVE FOR HIS WORK." THE FAMILY, INCLUDING WILLIAM BLACKER, SYD BATSFORD AND WILLIAM PICKFORD, WAS INVOLVED IN THE "BEREAN CHRISTADELPHIAN ECCLESIA" (LOCATED ON 633 7TH ST. S.). BATSFORD SAID MANY OF HIS RELATIONS WERE "MINISTERS AND PREACHERS WHO USED TO DO A LOT OF HELP FOR THE NATIVES." THEY OFTEN FED PEOPLE WHO WERE LIVING ON THE STREET, GAVE THEM CLOTHING OR PROVIDED SHELTER FOR THEM. "PART OF THE CHURCH'S MESSAGE WAS TO HELP EVERYONE THEY COULD." BATSFORD SAID, "THE PAINTING WAS A GIFT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE HELP." BATSFORD THOUGHT IT LIKELY WORD OF BLACKER'S GENEROSITY SPREAD AMONG THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE. BATSFORD SAID, "I THINK THE REASON FOR THE PAINTING WAS FOR WHAT MY UNCLES AND THE CHURCH DID FOR THEM." BLACKER LIVED ON 1225 6TH AVE. S., WHERE THE PAINTING HUNG IN HIS STUDY. BLACKER AND HIS WIFE MARY HAD THREE SONS NAMED BILLY, DAVID AND RICKY; RICKY WAS KILLED IN CALGARY WHEN HE WAS IN HIS 20S. PERCY PLAIN WOMAN AKA "TWO GUN" WAS A SELF TAUGHT ARTIST. BORN IN 1895, HE DID NOT SERIOUSLY PURSUE PAINTING UNTIL HE WAS 40 YEARS OLD. HIS WORK WAS COMPRISED OF PAINTINGS ON TEEPEES, PORTRAITS OF FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE AND MORE. HE OFTEN SOLD WORK TO LETHBRIDGE LOCALS AND WAS COMISSIONED TO DO WORK AT THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL. HIS SIGNATURE OFTEN INCLUDED A DEPICTION OF TWO RIFLES. SEE PERMANENT FILE AND P19640838000 FOR MORE INFORMATION. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. SHE DEVELOPED THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST, TWO GUN, WITH INFORMATION FROM CALGARY AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES AND RECORD P20130026000. PERCY “TWO GUN” PLAIN WOMAN WAS BORN IN 1895 AND RAISED ON THE BLOOD RESERVE. WITH A GRADE SEVEN EDUCATION, HE LEFT RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL TO TAKE UP LIFE AS A COW PUNCHER. HE SOON BECAME AN EXPERT RIDER AND BRONC BUSTER AND RODEOED THROUGHOUT THE WEST. TWO GUN WAS NEARLY 50 BEFORE HE BEGAN TO TAKE A SERIOUS INTEREST IN ART. AS A MIDDLE-AGED MAN HE TOOK A FEW LESSONS AT THE BANFF SCHOOL OF FINE ART, AND PAINTED TRADITIONAL DESIGNS ON TEEPEES PRIOR TO HIS LATER PORTRAITURE PRACTICE. HIS DEPICTIONS OF TRADITIONAL NATIVE LIFE AND PORTRAITS OF IMPORTANT BLOOD AND BLACKFOOT INDIVIDUALS BECAME WELL KNOWN IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND MONTANA. TWO GUN WAS COMMISSIONED TO PAINT A HISTORY OF THE BLACKFOOT TRIBES ON THE LOBBY WALLS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL IN WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK. HE FIRST SOLD HIS PAINTINGS TO A LOCAL RESTAURANT FOR $5.00 BUT AS HE BECAME KNOWN DEMAND FOR HIS WORKS INCREASED. IT WAS ONLY IN THE LATER YEARS OF HIS LIFE THAT HE MADE A LIVING OFF HIS ART. DURING THE 1950S TWO GUN CONTRACTED TUBERCULOSIS AND WAS A PATIENT AT CHARLES CAMSELL HOSPITAL IN EDMONTON FOR FOUR YEARS. HE DIED AT AGE 66 IN CARDSTON HOSPITAL. HE USED THE SYMBOL OF TWO CROSSED OR PARALLEL RIFLES TO ACCOMPANY HIS SIGNATURE IN MANY CASES, AS THE NAME TWO GUN WAS HANDED DOWN BY AN UNCLE, CHIEF EAGLECHILD. HIS NEPHEW WAS GERALD TAILFEATHERS, ALSO A WELL-KNOWN CANADIAN NATIVE ARTIST. FOR COPIES OF CALGARY AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON TWO GUN, SEE PERMANENT FILE P20030029000. FOR HARDCOPIES OF THE ARTIST'S DEATH REGISTRATION, MATERIAL DEVELOPED FOR A 1990 EXHIBITION OF HIS WORK, AND CORRESPONDANCE BETWEEN MUSEUM STAFF AND HUGH DEMPSEY REGARDING THE ARTIST, SEE PERMANENT FILE P19640615000.

Catalogue Number

P19640615000

Acquisition Date

1973-10

Collection

Museum

Less detail