Chief Terry Saul | |
---|---|
Born | Carl Terry Saul April 2, 1921 |
Died | May 1976 Muskogee, Oklahoma, U.S. |
Other names | Tabaksi, C. Terry Saul |
Education | Bacone College, University of Oklahoma, Art Students League of New York |
Chief Carl Terry Saul (1921–1976) also known as C. Terry Saul and Tabaksi, was a Choctaw Nation/Chickasaw illustrator, painter, muralist, commercial artist, and educator.[1][2] He was a leader of the Choctaw/Chickasaw tribe. He served as Director of the art program at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, from 1970 until 1976.[3][4]
Saul attended Bacone College,[1] where he studied under Acee Blue Eagle,[5] and Woody Crumbo.[5] His classmates at Bacone College included Walter Richard “Dick” West, Sr. and Oscar Howe, all of which started the early process of departing for traditional Native art and painting-styles, and moving towards Surrealism and engaging in modernist aesthetics.[6]
He served in the United States Army during World War II.[7] After the war, Saul continued his studies at University of Oklahoma, Norman (OU), where he received a BFA degree (1948) and MFA degree (1949); and at the Art Students League of New York, from 1951 to 1952.[1][7] Saul was the first Native American student to receive a MFA degree from the University of Oklahoma.[8]
In 1960, he lived in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and in addition to painting, Saul worked at the Phillips Petroleum Company.[9] He is known for his watercolor paintings, and casein paintings depicting Plains Tribes heritage and ceremonies.[10][9] He later returned to teach at Bacone College, where he served as the Director of the art program from 1970 to 1976.[3] One of his students was Joan Brown.[11]
His artwork is in museum collections, including the Gilcrease Museum,[12] Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art,[13] and the Philbrook Museum of Art.[14]