
Howard Terpning, CA
(b.1927)
Howard Terpning is sometimes called the “Storyteller of the Native American”. His realistic paintings are among the most sought after and acclaimed images ever produced of Native American traditions, customs, and history. Not long ago, Terpning was honored with a retrospective at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Terpning has been an artist for most of his life. He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and the American Academy of Art. He worked in commercial art in Chicago before moving to New York City, where he had a successful career as an illustrator for popular magazines and movie posters.
In 1977, Terpning moved to Tucson, Arizona, to document Native American culture and the America West. Two years later, he was elected to the National Academy of Western Art and, by unanimous vote, to the Cowboy Artists of America. He has been a member of the CAA ever since; choosing to go emeritus in 2003. His work has been recognized by his peers with numerous gold and silver awards, and he has received more Best of Show awards than any other artist. Perhaps even more telling, however, than all his awards and accolades is that he has been accepted by the Native people to whom his work is a lasting tribute.
Source: Cowboy Artist of America
Apache Firemakers
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (1985) | Image Size: 32”h x 44”w; Framed Size: 43”h x 55”wpainting
Howard Terpning is a consummate artist able to handle every facet of a painting with skill and dexterity from the quality of the figures, the details of the landscape, the handling of tone and value, and the use of light and color. In this painting he also shows that he is a master of composition. He cleverly leads the eye of the viewer from the top right of the painting by including a rocky path that descends into a pool of sunlight that envelops the two Apaches and focuses the viewer’s attention on their efforts to start a fire. One of the Apaches has raised a handful of smoking grass to his lips to gently blow on the beginning flame with the resulting white smoke drifting off to the left. The two figures, the campfire, and the smoke are all caught in the pool of light that is in the center of the scene. The effect is to carefully lead the viewer down the path from the forest to the ongoing action. Terpning has created a scene from the history of the Southwest and he has quietly immersed the viewer into that time and place.
This painting merited the Gold Medal in oil painting at the 20th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Show & Sale in 1985 at the Phoenix Art Museum. Since that time it has been loaned and exhibited at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, CA, The Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY, and Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA. It is depicted in the book entitled “Howard Terpning: The Storyteller”, authored by Don Dedera and published by Greenwich Workshop in 1989.Elder Statesman
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Gouache (1994) | Image Size: 12”h x 9”w; Framed Size: 25”h x 21 ½”wpainting
The lines and creases etched into this Plains Indian’s face speak volumes and Terpning presents him in a way that allows the viewer to relate directly to him. A bland background and the dark hair of the subject draw our attention specifically to the face. Reddish feathers adorn his hair adding an effective contrast to the overall presentation.Three Generations
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (2004) | Image Size: 37”h x 35”w; Framed Size: 49”h x 47”wpainting
Skilled in many demanding domestic tasks of their culture, Crow women passed their traditions down from one generation to the next, ensuring the future of their tribe and customs. In this family portrait the distinctive and expressive faces of the grandmother, mother and granddaughter are unique and yet universal. The middle generation carries the weight of responsibility with dignity, the elder, perhaps, now knows joy in understanding the circle of all life. And the adolescent is in that awkward stage we see in many of our own family portraits.
Painted against an almost abstract background, there are no landscape or interior details because Terpning’s intent is to focus attention solely on the three women drawing the viewer into their world.Allegiance to the Crown
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (1993) | Image Size: 33”h x 20”w; Framed Size: 44”h x 27 ¾”wpainting
In “Spirit of the Plains People – Howard Terpning” authored by Don Hedgpeth, the narrative of this piece reads: Canada had adopted a more enlightened approach in dealing with its native inhabitants in the West than did the United States. This was due in large part to the commercial interests and political influence of the Hudson’s Bay Company which controlled the Rocky Mountain fur trade in the western territories and into the Pacific Northwest along both sides of the international border.
The Blackfoot bands that lived and hunted buffalo on the prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan had an easier life than their brothers in Montana who were among the first victims of white intrusion and disease in the American West. The Blood People were a Canadian band of the Blackfoot. This Blood elder might scout for the Mounties and carry the British flag, but his heart still belongs to the Blackfoot.
This full length portrait of a mounted Blood Indian holding the Union Flag is replete with historic details of clothing, ornamentation, and weaponry. Terpning demonstrates his knowledge of the history of the era with his attention to the details. The subject is wearing traditional hide clothing that has been decorated with beadwork and leather fringes. The figure has a rifle balanced across his saddle which is consistent with the customs of the day. Historical accuracy and authentic details contribute to the quality of this painting, but it is Terpning’s artistic skill in his deft handling of the surrounding landscape and cloud dappled sky, his striking use of color and his depiction of the subject’s essence that sets the painting apart. The lighting, which casts a spotlight on the horse is superb and heightens the painting’s many details.
Honors/Awards:
Artists’ Choice Award for body of work
“28th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale 1993”
Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix AZ)
October 22 – November 21, 1993
Exhibitions/Shows:
“28th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale 1993”
Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix AZ)
October 22 – November 21, 1993Field Headquarters, Arizona Territory 1885
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (1979) | Image Size: 30”h x 48”w; Framed Size: 41”h x 59”wpaintingKiowa Brave
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Mixed Media (1979) | Image Size: 24”h x 16”w; Framed Size: 29 ½”h x 23 ½”wpainting
Ornamented with traditional beads, feathers, trade goods, and wearing a bone breast plate and peace medal, this Kiowa brave represents the Native American culture of the Southern Plains.The Hunters & The Hunted
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (1997) | Image Size: 40”h x 60”w; Framed Size: 54.5”h x 74”wpainting
In the book entitled “Spirit of the Plains People – Howard Terpning,” authored by Don Hedgpeth and published by The Greenwich Workshop in 2001 the following narrative was written: Winter was often a mean season of hard times and hunger for the Native American tribes who lived out upon the Great Plains. This was particularly true for the Blackfoot, whose traditional territory extended from western Montana northward into Canada. Once the buffalo began to disappear with the coming of the white man, it grew increasingly difficult for the Indians to lie in enough stores of meat and warm robes in hunting season to last out the dark days of winter. When the white soldiers began their relentless campaign to seek out and destroy the People, survival became even more uncertain in every season. The Prairie was no longer a sanctuary for the People, but a netherworld of hardship and despair. In time, the hunters became hunted themselves.
Howard received the Artists Choice Award for his body of work which included “The Hunters and the Hunted” at the 32nd Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale in 1997 which was held at the Phoenix Art Museum.The Sweat Lodge
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (1984) | Image Size: 18 ½” h x 22 ½” w; Framed Size: 28 ½” h x 32 ½” wpainting
Purification and vision ceremonies and rituals, physical as well as spiritual, were integral parts of life on the Great Plains for many Native American cultures. This warrior prepares to enter a sweat lodge that has been constructed of buffalo hides and tree saplings. The warrior hopes that the time spent in the lodge will tax his body to its limit creating a trance-like state and conjuring a vision. The muted tones and colors of the lodge and the surrounding landscape, even the hide wrapped around the warrior, contrast sharply with the reddish tones of the warrior’s skin.Gathering Sage for the Sun Dance
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (2004) | Image Size: 36”w x 40”h; Framed Size: 51”w x 55”hpaintingCouncil Mediator
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
paintingWinter Light
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
paintingThe Scouts of General Crook
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
paintingThe Last Buffalo
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (1986) | Image Size: 34”h x 48”w; Framed Size: 44”h x 58”wpainting
By 1882, there were at least five thousand buffalo hunters and skinners on the northern plains. By the fall of 1883, virtually all of the bison had been killed. The Plains Indians could not believe that the buffalo were gone; they thought the herds must be grazing in places they hadn’t discovered. Hunting parties would roam the Plains for weeks in search of buffalo. And, if they were fortunate enough to come upon a straggler, they would kill and consume what they could on the spot in order to survive.
Narrative provided by the artist, Howard Terpning, and depicted in the 21st Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale Catalog.Allegiance to the Crown
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
paintingMedicine Man of the Cheyenne
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
paintingOne Man's Dignity
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
paintingThe Missing Dispatch Case
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (2002) | 42”h x 44”wpainting
Dispatch cases were used by the Calvary from time to time to carry important dispatches. If a dispatch writer was caught in a fight with the apache warriors, his case could be lost in his haste to escape. These three warriors have come across just such a case partially covered by sand.
The Ft. Lowell Museum has this case on display in its museum. The Director of the Museum, being a friend of the artist, was kind enough to allow the case to be photographed in the daylight in order that it could be depicted accurately in this painting.Captured from General Crook’s Command
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Description: Oil (2001) | Image Size: 34”h x 56”w Framed Size: 47”h x 69”wpainting

Howard Terpning is a consummate artist able to handle every facet of a painting with skill and dexterity from the quality of the figures, the details of the landscape, the handling of tone and value, and the use of light and color. In this painting he also shows that he is a master of composition. He cleverly leads the eye of the viewer from the top right of the painting by including a rocky path that descends into a pool of sunlight that envelops the two Apaches and focuses the viewer’s attention on their efforts to start a fire. One of the Apaches has raised a handful of smoking grass to his lips to gently blow on the beginning flame with the resulting white smoke drifting off to the left. The two figures, the campfire, and the smoke are all caught in the pool of light that is in the center of the scene. The effect is to carefully lead the viewer down the path from the forest to the ongoing action. Terpning has created a scene from the history of the Southwest and he has quietly immersed the viewer into that time and place.
This painting merited the Gold Medal in oil painting at the 20th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Show & Sale in 1985 at the Phoenix Art Museum. Since that time it has been loaned and exhibited at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, CA, The Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY, and Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA. It is depicted in the book entitled “Howard Terpning: The Storyteller”, authored by Don Dedera and published by Greenwich Workshop in 1989.
Apache Firemakers
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Howard Terpning is a consummate artist able to handle every facet of a painting with skill and dexterity from the quality of the figures, the details of the landscape, the handling of tone and value, and the use of light and color. In this painting he also shows that he is a master of composition. He cleverly leads the eye of the viewer from the top right of the painting by including a rocky path that descends into a pool of sunlight that envelops the two Apaches and focuses the viewer’s attention on their efforts to start a fire. One of the Apaches has raised a handful of smoking grass to his lips to gently blow on the beginning flame with the resulting white smoke drifting off to the left. The two figures, the campfire, and the smoke are all caught in the pool of light that is in the center of the scene. The effect is to carefully lead the viewer down the path from the forest to the ongoing action. Terpning has created a scene from the history of the Southwest and he has quietly immersed the viewer into that time and place.
This painting merited the Gold Medal in oil painting at the 20th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Show & Sale in 1985 at the Phoenix Art Museum. Since that time it has been loaned and exhibited at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, CA, The Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY, and Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA. It is depicted in the book entitled “Howard Terpning: The Storyteller”, authored by Don Dedera and published by Greenwich Workshop in 1989.

The lines and creases etched into this Plains Indian’s face speak volumes and Terpning presents him in a way that allows the viewer to relate directly to him. A bland background and the dark hair of the subject draw our attention specifically to the face. Reddish feathers adorn his hair adding an effective contrast to the overall presentation.
Elder Statesman
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
The lines and creases etched into this Plains Indian’s face speak volumes and Terpning presents him in a way that allows the viewer to relate directly to him. A bland background and the dark hair of the subject draw our attention specifically to the face. Reddish feathers adorn his hair adding an effective contrast to the overall presentation.

Skilled in many demanding domestic tasks of their culture, Crow women passed their traditions down from one generation to the next, ensuring the future of their tribe and customs. In this family portrait the distinctive and expressive faces of the grandmother, mother and granddaughter are unique and yet universal. The middle generation carries the weight of responsibility with dignity, the elder, perhaps, now knows joy in understanding the circle of all life. And the adolescent is in that awkward stage we see in many of our own family portraits.
Painted against an almost abstract background, there are no landscape or interior details because Terpning’s intent is to focus attention solely on the three women drawing the viewer into their world.
Three Generations
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Skilled in many demanding domestic tasks of their culture, Crow women passed their traditions down from one generation to the next, ensuring the future of their tribe and customs. In this family portrait the distinctive and expressive faces of the grandmother, mother and granddaughter are unique and yet universal. The middle generation carries the weight of responsibility with dignity, the elder, perhaps, now knows joy in understanding the circle of all life. And the adolescent is in that awkward stage we see in many of our own family portraits.
Painted against an almost abstract background, there are no landscape or interior details because Terpning’s intent is to focus attention solely on the three women drawing the viewer into their world.

In “Spirit of the Plains People – Howard Terpning” authored by Don Hedgpeth, the narrative of this piece reads: Canada had adopted a more enlightened approach in dealing with its native inhabitants in the West than did the United States. This was due in large part to the commercial interests and political influence of the Hudson’s Bay Company which controlled the Rocky Mountain fur trade in the western territories and into the Pacific Northwest along both sides of the international border.
The Blackfoot bands that lived and hunted buffalo on the prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan had an easier life than their brothers in Montana who were among the first victims of white intrusion and disease in the American West. The Blood People were a Canadian band of the Blackfoot. This Blood elder might scout for the Mounties and carry the British flag, but his heart still belongs to the Blackfoot.
This full length portrait of a mounted Blood Indian holding the Union Flag is replete with historic details of clothing, ornamentation, and weaponry. Terpning demonstrates his knowledge of the history of the era with his attention to the details. The subject is wearing traditional hide clothing that has been decorated with beadwork and leather fringes. The figure has a rifle balanced across his saddle which is consistent with the customs of the day. Historical accuracy and authentic details contribute to the quality of this painting, but it is Terpning’s artistic skill in his deft handling of the surrounding landscape and cloud dappled sky, his striking use of color and his depiction of the subject’s essence that sets the painting apart. The lighting, which casts a spotlight on the horse is superb and heightens the painting’s many details.
Honors/Awards:
Artists’ Choice Award for body of work
“28th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale 1993”
Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix AZ)
October 22 – November 21, 1993
Exhibitions/Shows:
“28th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale 1993”
Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix AZ)
October 22 – November 21, 1993
Allegiance to the Crown
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
In “Spirit of the Plains People – Howard Terpning” authored by Don Hedgpeth, the narrative of this piece reads: Canada had adopted a more enlightened approach in dealing with its native inhabitants in the West than did the United States. This was due in large part to the commercial interests and political influence of the Hudson’s Bay Company which controlled the Rocky Mountain fur trade in the western territories and into the Pacific Northwest along both sides of the international border.
The Blackfoot bands that lived and hunted buffalo on the prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan had an easier life than their brothers in Montana who were among the first victims of white intrusion and disease in the American West. The Blood People were a Canadian band of the Blackfoot. This Blood elder might scout for the Mounties and carry the British flag, but his heart still belongs to the Blackfoot.
This full length portrait of a mounted Blood Indian holding the Union Flag is replete with historic details of clothing, ornamentation, and weaponry. Terpning demonstrates his knowledge of the history of the era with his attention to the details. The subject is wearing traditional hide clothing that has been decorated with beadwork and leather fringes. The figure has a rifle balanced across his saddle which is consistent with the customs of the day. Historical accuracy and authentic details contribute to the quality of this painting, but it is Terpning’s artistic skill in his deft handling of the surrounding landscape and cloud dappled sky, his striking use of color and his depiction of the subject’s essence that sets the painting apart. The lighting, which casts a spotlight on the horse is superb and heightens the painting’s many details.
Honors/Awards:
Artists’ Choice Award for body of work
“28th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale 1993”
Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix AZ)
October 22 – November 21, 1993
Exhibitions/Shows:
“28th Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale 1993”
Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix AZ)
October 22 – November 21, 1993

Field Headquarters, Arizona Territory 1885
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)

Ornamented with traditional beads, feathers, trade goods, and wearing a bone breast plate and peace medal, this Kiowa brave represents the Native American culture of the Southern Plains.
Kiowa Brave
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Ornamented with traditional beads, feathers, trade goods, and wearing a bone breast plate and peace medal, this Kiowa brave represents the Native American culture of the Southern Plains.

In the book entitled “Spirit of the Plains People – Howard Terpning,” authored by Don Hedgpeth and published by The Greenwich Workshop in 2001 the following narrative was written: Winter was often a mean season of hard times and hunger for the Native American tribes who lived out upon the Great Plains. This was particularly true for the Blackfoot, whose traditional territory extended from western Montana northward into Canada. Once the buffalo began to disappear with the coming of the white man, it grew increasingly difficult for the Indians to lie in enough stores of meat and warm robes in hunting season to last out the dark days of winter. When the white soldiers began their relentless campaign to seek out and destroy the People, survival became even more uncertain in every season. The Prairie was no longer a sanctuary for the People, but a netherworld of hardship and despair. In time, the hunters became hunted themselves.
Howard received the Artists Choice Award for his body of work which included “The Hunters and the Hunted” at the 32nd Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale in 1997 which was held at the Phoenix Art Museum.
The Hunters & The Hunted
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
In the book entitled “Spirit of the Plains People – Howard Terpning,” authored by Don Hedgpeth and published by The Greenwich Workshop in 2001 the following narrative was written: Winter was often a mean season of hard times and hunger for the Native American tribes who lived out upon the Great Plains. This was particularly true for the Blackfoot, whose traditional territory extended from western Montana northward into Canada. Once the buffalo began to disappear with the coming of the white man, it grew increasingly difficult for the Indians to lie in enough stores of meat and warm robes in hunting season to last out the dark days of winter. When the white soldiers began their relentless campaign to seek out and destroy the People, survival became even more uncertain in every season. The Prairie was no longer a sanctuary for the People, but a netherworld of hardship and despair. In time, the hunters became hunted themselves.
Howard received the Artists Choice Award for his body of work which included “The Hunters and the Hunted” at the 32nd Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale in 1997 which was held at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Purification and vision ceremonies and rituals, physical as well as spiritual, were integral parts of life on the Great Plains for many Native American cultures. This warrior prepares to enter a sweat lodge that has been constructed of buffalo hides and tree saplings. The warrior hopes that the time spent in the lodge will tax his body to its limit creating a trance-like state and conjuring a vision. The muted tones and colors of the lodge and the surrounding landscape, even the hide wrapped around the warrior, contrast sharply with the reddish tones of the warrior’s skin.
The Sweat Lodge
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Purification and vision ceremonies and rituals, physical as well as spiritual, were integral parts of life on the Great Plains for many Native American cultures. This warrior prepares to enter a sweat lodge that has been constructed of buffalo hides and tree saplings. The warrior hopes that the time spent in the lodge will tax his body to its limit creating a trance-like state and conjuring a vision. The muted tones and colors of the lodge and the surrounding landscape, even the hide wrapped around the warrior, contrast sharply with the reddish tones of the warrior’s skin.

Gathering Sage for the Sun Dance
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)

By 1882, there were at least five thousand buffalo hunters and skinners on the northern plains. By the fall of 1883, virtually all of the bison had been killed. The Plains Indians could not believe that the buffalo were gone; they thought the herds must be grazing in places they hadn’t discovered. Hunting parties would roam the Plains for weeks in search of buffalo. And, if they were fortunate enough to come upon a straggler, they would kill and consume what they could on the spot in order to survive.
Narrative provided by the artist, Howard Terpning, and depicted in the 21st Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale Catalog.
The Last Buffalo
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
By 1882, there were at least five thousand buffalo hunters and skinners on the northern plains. By the fall of 1883, virtually all of the bison had been killed. The Plains Indians could not believe that the buffalo were gone; they thought the herds must be grazing in places they hadn’t discovered. Hunting parties would roam the Plains for weeks in search of buffalo. And, if they were fortunate enough to come upon a straggler, they would kill and consume what they could on the spot in order to survive.
Narrative provided by the artist, Howard Terpning, and depicted in the 21st Annual Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition & Sale Catalog.

Dispatch cases were used by the Calvary from time to time to carry important dispatches. If a dispatch writer was caught in a fight with the apache warriors, his case could be lost in his haste to escape. These three warriors have come across just such a case partially covered by sand.
The Ft. Lowell Museum has this case on display in its museum. The Director of the Museum, being a friend of the artist, was kind enough to allow the case to be photographed in the daylight in order that it could be depicted accurately in this painting.
The Missing Dispatch Case
Artist: Howard Terpning, CA Emeritus (b.1927)
Dispatch cases were used by the Calvary from time to time to carry important dispatches. If a dispatch writer was caught in a fight with the apache warriors, his case could be lost in his haste to escape. These three warriors have come across just such a case partially covered by sand.
The Ft. Lowell Museum has this case on display in its museum. The Director of the Museum, being a friend of the artist, was kind enough to allow the case to be photographed in the daylight in order that it could be depicted accurately in this painting.