Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

EVELYN EAGLE SPEAKER - SUSPECTED PORTRAIT SITTER

Date

1960

Materials

CANVAS, WOOD, PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Length

42.5

Width

32.6

Description

CANVAS STRETCHED OVER BOARD. PORTRAIT OF UNKNOWN WOMAN IN TRADITIONAL NATIVE REGALIA OF WHITE BUCKSKIN, HEADBAND WITH 3 FEATHERS. UNFRAMED & SIGNED BOTTOM LEFT "TWO GUN 60" UNDER 2 SLOPED RIFLES. TOP 1/3 OF PAINTING HAS NUMEROUS WHITE PAINT SPECKLES. SEE CONSERVATION REPORT.

Subjects

INDIGENOUS

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

ARTIST TWO GUN, A MEMBER OF THE KAINAI NATION, PAINTED SCENES IN OIL OF TRADITONAL NATIVE LIFE, ALSO PORTRAITS OF WELL KNOWN NATIVE INDIVIDUALS & SOME LANDSCAPES. TWO GUN IS A "PEN NAME" FOR PERCY PLAINS WOMAN (1895-1961). *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 KAINAI 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 KAINAI 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. UPDATE: ON NOVEMBER 25TH 2019, GALT MUSEUM CURATOR AIMEE BENOIT SUGGESTED THAT THIS PORTRAIT’S SITTER WAS LIKELY EVELYN EAGLE SPEAKER WHO WAS NAMED THE FIRST INDIGENOUS STAMPEDE QUEEN IN 1954. PHOTOGRAPHS OF EAGLE SPEAKER WEARING IDENTICAL ATTIRE CAN BE FOUND AT WITHIN GLENBOW ARCHIVES--AS REFERENCED BY BENOIT ON FILE.

Catalogue Number

P19910065002

Acquisition Date

1991-10

Collection

Museum

Less detail