BLUE EAGLE, Acee 1909(?)-1959

PERSONAL: Original name, Alex C. McIntosh; Creek Indian name, Che Bon Ah Bula; born August 17, 1909 (some sources cite 1907, August 9, 1909, or 1911), in Wichita Reservation, OK; died June 18, 1959. Education: Attended Bacone College and University of Oklahoma; attended Oklahoma State University, 1951-52.

CAREER: Painter, sculptor, and ceramist. Bacone College, Bacone, OK, founder and head of Art Department, 1935-38; Oxford University, lecturer in American Indian art, 1935; also taught art at Oklahoma State University and Technological School, Okmulgee, after 1945. Host of children's television series, Tulsa, OK, 1954-55; guest on other television programs. Exhibitions: Murals displayed in federal buildings and at Muskogee Public Library and Veterans Administration Hospital, Muskogee, OK; art work represented in solo and group exhibitions, including shows at Young Galleries, Chicago, IL, Washington Arts Club, Washington, DC, Philbrook Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, and in Czechoslovakia; also represented in collections, including Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, National Museum of Ethiopia, Millicent Rogers Foundation Museum, and Seminole Public Library. Military service: U.S. Army Air Corps, served during World War II.

AWARDS, HONORS: Medal of National Art Museum of Ethiopia, 1952; named "outstanding Indian in the United States," American Indian Exposition, Anadarko, OK, 1958; honored by resolution from Oklahoma Legislature, 1959; Acee Blue Eagle Building at Haskell Indian Nations University named in his honor; awards from fairs, ceremonials, and art competitions, including American Indian Exposition, Denver Art Museum, International Art Exhibition of Sports Subjects of 1932, Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonials, and Philbrook Annual Indian Art Exhibition.

WRITINGS:

Oklahoma Indian Painting, Poetry, [Tulsa, OK], 1959.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Native North American Artists, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1998, pp. 81-83.*