316

Earl Biss

Apsáalooke (Crow), 1947 - 1998

War Party

oil on canvas
signed upper right: Biss
inscribed verso: Biss / "WAR / PARty" / oil on canvas
33 1/2 x 35 1/2 in. (85.1 x 90.2 cm.), frame: 35 x 37 x 2 1/4 in. (88.9 x 94 x 5.7 cm.)

  • Provenance: The Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, ca. 1975
    Private Collection, New Mexico

    Earl Biss was an Apsáalooke (Crow) painter whose high-chroma, storm-charged oils fuse Abstract Expressionist energy with Plains imagery, mounted riders, roiling skies, and rivered light. Raised between the Crow Reservation in Montana and Washington state, he studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts (placed in Fritz Scholder's advanced painting class) and later at the San Francisco Art Institute. He emerged as a key voice of IAIA's 1960s "miracle generation." Biss worked and exhibited widely (with museum holdings including the New Mexico Museum of Art, Missoula Art Museum, and Gilcrease), and he remained a prolific colorist and printmaker through the 1990s. Recent books and a documentary (Earl Biss: The Spirit Who Walks Among His People) have helped cement his legacy.
  • Condition: This piece is in very good condition overall.

    A condition report for this lot is available upon request and is provided by Santa Fe Art Auction as a courtesy and convenience for potential buyers.

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November 8, 2025 1:00 PM MST
Santa Fe, NM, US

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