Oscar Howe’s Antelope in Flight Lands at the National Museum of Wildlife Art

The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) is pleased to announce the addition of a new painting to the Museum’s permanent collection, Antelope in Flight by Oscar Howe. Purchased by the Collectors Circle, this piece is on view now in the Greene Pathways Gallery foyer. Collectors Circle is a group of NMWA members whose mission is to support acquisitions for the permanent collection of the Museum. Part of their membership dues fund art acquisitions, and members vote on new acquisitions to benefit and diversify the permanent collection.

Previous Collectors Circle acquisitions include Study of Two Ravens by James Browning Wyeth, Endangered Species Portfolio by Andy Warhol, Tiger by Ai Weiwei, and, most recently, Cub Sitting by Hacer. Since it was established in 1998, the Collectors Circle has supported the acquisition of more than a hundred and thirty artworks, encompassing a wide variety of media and styles. Regarding Antelope in Flight, Collectors Circle Member Agnes Bourne notes, “I enjoy this painting because it shows several actions that are typical for the animal, and it is done in a very modern mode which includes color and design. It should complement/contrast the traditional works in the collection.”

Howe first studied art under Dorothy Dunn at the Santa Fe Indian School. From 1940 to 1942, Howe worked as a muralist for the South Dakota Works Progress Administration. After serving three years in the U.S. Army during World War II, Howe continued his formal education, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952 at Dakota Wesleyan University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1954. He went on to influence generations of artists as a professor at the University of South Dakota, where he taught Studio Art for more than twenty years.

Howe was one of the most influential Native American artists of the twentieth century. “Throughout his lifetime, Howe actively challenged perceptions of contemporary Indigenous art. Drawing upon his Yanktonai Dakota culture while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of modernism, Howe paved the way for generations of Native artists,” says Executive Director Steve Seamons. “We are grateful to the Collectors Circle for this significant addition to the Museum’s collection.” Antelope in Flight is the first work by Howe to be added to NMWA’s permanent collection. The Museum is committed to amplifying Native voices and increasing representation in its permanent collection.

Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Sioux, 1915 – 1983), Antelope in Flight, 1965. Casein on Watercolor Paper. 18 x 27 1/2 inches. Gift of the 2025 Collectors Circle, National Museum of Wildlife Art.