Valjean McCarty Hessing
Valjean McCarty Hessing | |
---|---|
![]() Hessing, 1985 | |
Born | Valjean McCarty August 30, 1934 |
Died | October 7, 2006 | (aged 72)
Nationality | Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, American |
Education | Mary Hardin–Baylor College University of Tulsa |
Occupation | painter |
Years active | 1945–2006 |
Relatives | Jane McCarty Mauldin (sister) |
Valjean McCarty Hessing (August 30, 1934 – October 7, 2006) was a Choctaw painter, who worked in the Bacone flatstyle. Throughout her career, she won 9- awards for her work and was designated a Master Artist by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in 1976. Her artworks are in collections of the Heard Museum of Phoenix, Arizona; the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma; and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian of Santa Fe, New Mexico, among others.
Early life[]
Valjean McCarty was born on August 30, 1934, in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Madelyn Helen (née Beck) and Vernon Clay McCarty. Her family were members of the Choctaw Nation[1] and she was the oldest of four siblings, Carol Jean "Jane", Patrick, and Judy Louise.[2] Her father was a plumber and an honorary tribal leader. Because he often had to travel for work, given that in-door plumbing was still uncommon,[3] Valjean was raised in Tulsa in the home of her maternal grandparents, Sada and Fred Beck,[1][4] who were of Welch ancestry.[3] Her paternal grandparents, were Etta Regina (née Davis),[1] who was Choctaw[5] and Carl McCarty.[1]
In grade school, McCarty wanted to become an artist,[1] but when her father asked a local well-known artist where she and Jane could study painting, he was told that women could not be painters.[6] Undaunted, when she won a scholarship at age 11 to attend weekend educational programs at the Philbrook Art Center, she accepted and studied art history, dancing, painting and pottery.[3] From 1945, she participated in art shows at Philbrook, winning numerous local, state and national prizes for her artwork.[1] After graduating from Tulsa Central High School in 1952, she won three college scholarships and chose to attend Mary Hardin–Baylor College in Belton, Texas. While she was at Baylor, she met Robert C. Hessing,[7] a veteran of the Korean War and mathematician.[8] The couple married in 1954.[1] That year, she returned to Tulsa to study at the University of Tulsa under the tutelage of Alexandre Hogue.[9] Completing her studies in 1955, McCarty took several years off to raise her children, Robert Bart, Jane Ann, Lauri Lynn, and Bradly Lewis,[1] though she continued her study of art and in 1962, taught herself the Bacone flatstyle of painting.[9]
Career[]
Hessing is most known for her narrative history paintings in gouache using earth tones on a white background in the two-dimensional perspective of Flatstyle,[9][10] a Native painting movement widespread in the 20th century. To give the appearance of depth, fine lines were added, as shading was not permitted.[11] Though the flat-style was typically associated with previous generations of Native painters[12] and Hessing was often discouraged by men who believed women should not paint,[6] Hessing felt that it was important to keep the tradition alive.[12] To make the work accurate, Native artists were required to do research to accurately portray the story of a custom or historic event meticulously reproducing garments, motifs, and themes.[11] She sought to capture the wide spectrum of complexions among people and typically painted scenes of Choctaw daily life or focused on historic images and legends of her people.[10][12]
In 1962, Hessing returned to painting and began entering art exhibits like the Scottsdale National Indian Art Exhibition (1962) in Arizona, the U.S. Department of Interior Art exhibition (1964) in Washington, DC, the Tulsa Council of Indians Exhibition (1965), and the Second Annual Invitational Exhibition of American Indian Paintings (1965) in Washington, DC.[1] In 1966 at the Philbrook Indian Annual, Hessing placed second, behind Joan Hill (Muscogee Creek/Cherokee, 1930–2020),[13] the first woman designated as a "Master Artist" by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum.[14] In 1971, Hessing won first prize for painting in the Scottsdale Exhibition's 10th Annual[15] and the following year was the Choctaw Heritage Award winner at the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma.[16] She often exhibited her works with her sister Jane, the Heard Museum of Phoenix produced an exhibition featuring the two women in 1972. The following year, the Philbrook selected Hessing's work for a solo exhibition.[9] In 1973, when her husband was appointed as director of research and development at Amoco, the family relocated to Naperville, Illinois.[8][11]
In 1976, Hessing earned the distinction of "Master Artist" from the Five Civilized Tribes Museum.[Notes 1] The designation is the highest honor bestowed by the museum and through 2008 only 35 artists had earned the distinction.[19] Among her contemporaries, who had earned the distinction at the time of her recognition were Troy Anderson (Cherokee of Northeastern Alabama), Bob Bell (Choctaw Nation), Enoch Kelly Haney (Seminole/Muscogee Creek), Joan Hill (Muscogee Creek/Cherokee), Saint Clair Homer II (Choctaw Nation), Bert Seabourn, Jason Stone, and Willard Stone.[18][Notes 2] In 1978, Hessing was honored by the Heard Museum with the Popovi Da Memorial and won the Pierce-Avery Memorial Award for her work Removal to Indian Territory.[21] She won the Pierce-Avery Memorial Award a second time in 1980[22] and that year had a solo exhibit in Washington, DC, at Via Gambaro Gallery.[9]
Hessing was one of the featured artists who exhibited in 1983 at the Mary B. Rogers Gallery of the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico.[23] The following year, her family returned to Tulsa, when her husband was appointed to head Amoco's Computing Research Division.[8] In 1985, she participated along with her sister Jane and Mary Adair (Cherokee Nation), Jean Bales (Iowa), Joan Brown, Sharron Ahtone Harjo (Kiowa), Ruthe Blalock Jones (Shawnee/Peoria), and Virginia Stroud (Keetoowah Band Cherokee/Muscogee Creek) in the Daughters of the Earth exhibition which traveled for three years (1985–1988), touring in the United States and Europe.[24] Throughout her career, she won 90 honors for her paintings, which included nine grand awards.[17]
Death and legacy[]
When Hessing's husband retired in the early 1990s, the couple moved to Onarga, Illinois.[8] There she died on October 7, 2006.[25]
The U.S. Department of the Interior has preserved her works in two collections — Amerindian Circle and Indian Arts and Crafts Board, both located in Washington, DC.[17] She also has works in the permanent collections of the Heard Museum of Phoenix; the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa; the Southeast Missouri State University Museum at Cape Girardeau, Missouri; the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma; and the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, as well as in private collections.[11] [17] In 2008, the Institute of American Indian Arts hosted a retrospective of her works, Valjean McCarty Hessing Honored, and her painting The Black Hat was featured on the cover of The Santa Fe New Mexican's issue of February 1, 2008.[10] In 2012, her work Some Died along the Way (1969) was one of the pieces exhibited from the James T. Bialac Native American Art Collection acquired by the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman, Oklahoma.[26] In 2019, she was among the women artists featured in the Five Civilized Tribes Museum's Women of the Five Civilized Tribes Exhibit.[27]
Notes[]
- ^ Broder states Hessing's designation occurred in 1986;[12] however, the date 1976 given by King[17] seems more likely, given that when Wall wrote her article in 1981, Hessing was noted for having already earned the designation of "Master Artist".[18]
- ^ Upon the passage of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, Seabourn, Willard Stone, and his son Jason, among others were forbidden to show their works as Indigenous artists. The legislation required that Native artists be members of a federally or state recognized tribe or be a tribally designated artisan.[20]
References[]
Citations[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Snodgrass 1968, p. 74.
- ^ U. S. Census 1940, p. 7A.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Broder 2013, p. 314.
- ^ U. S. Census 1930, p. 10A.
- ^ Dawes Rolls 1903.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Oklahoma Today 1998, p. 24.
- ^ Broder 2013, pp. 314–315.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d The Chicago Tribune 1998, p. 28.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e King 2013, p. 829.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c The Santa Fe New Mexican 2008, p. Z6.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Stevenson 1974, p. 22.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Broder 2013, p. 318.
- ^ The Santa Fe New Mexican 1966, p. 35.
- ^ Synar 2019.
- ^ Bucklew 1971, p. 143.
- ^ The Indian Journal 1972, p. 11.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d King 2013, p. 830.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Wall 1981, p. 6.
- ^ Coleman 2008.
- ^ DeFrange 1991.
- ^ Price 1978, p. H1-2.
- ^ The Arizona Republic 1980, p. 25.
- ^ The Taos News 1983, p. 21.
- ^ Price 1985.
- ^ The Chicago Tribune 2006, p. 1-19.
- ^ Brandenburg 2012, p. 59.
- ^ Spaulding 2019.
Bibliography[]
- Brandenburg, John (September 30, 2012). "American Indian artwork exhibit arrives at OU". The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. p. 59. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- Broder, Patricia Janis (2013). Earth Songs, Moon Dreams: Paintings by American Indian Women. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-4668-5972-2.
- Bucklew, Joan (February 28, 1971). "Scottsdale's Indian Arts show celebrates its 10th anniversary, largest and finest in the world". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. p. 143. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- Coleman, Travina (November 1, 2008). "Art masters compete". The Muskogee Phoenix. Muskogee, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- DeFrange, Ann (February 16, 1991). "Law Saddens Late Artist's Family". The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- King, Jeanne O. Snodgrass (2013). "Hessing, Valjean McCarty (1934-)". In Heller, Jules; Heller, Nancy G. (eds.). North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. New York, New York: Taylor & Francis. pp. 829–831. ISBN 978-1-135-63889-4.
- Price, Hardy (November 23, 1978). "Indian exhibit to open at Heard Museum (pt. 1)". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. p. H1. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. and Price, Hardy (November 23, 1978). "Indian exhibit (pt. 2)". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. p. H2. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- Price, Mary Sue (February 24, 1985). "Artists Dip Deeply Into Heritage". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Snodgrass, Jeanne O., ed. (1968). "Hessing, Valjean McCarty". American Indian Painters: A Biographical Directory. 21. New York, New York: Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-934-49030-6.
- Spaulding, Cathy (May 8, 2019). "Women the focus of art exhibit". The Muskogee Phoenix. Muskogee, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
- Stevenson, Carol (July 24, 1974). "Indian art has a variety of rules to be followed". The Paducah Sun. Paducah, Kentucky. Copley News Service. p. 22. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- Synar, Edwyna (August 2, 2019). "Remember the Ladies: Master artist". The Norman Transcript. Norman, Oklahoma. CNHI. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- Wall, Judith (Winter 1981). "Buying A Homegrown Masterpiece: Oklahoma's Indian Art". Oklahoma Today. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation. 32 (1): 4–9. ISSN 0030-1892. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- "1930 U. S. Census: City of Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma". FamilySearch. Washington, D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration. April 7, 1930. p. 10A. NARA digital publication T626, Roll #1936, lines 25–32. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- "1940 U. S. Census: Porter Township, Muskogee County, Oklahoma". FamilySearch. Washington, D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration. April 24, 1940. p. 7A. NARA digital publication T627, Roll #3314, lines 3–9. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- "Across the Range—Visions and Voices: The Artists' Perspectives". Oklahoma Today. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation. 48 (4): 18–27. May–June 1998. ISSN 0030-1892. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- "Dawes Final Rolls: Choctaw by Blood, Card 4296". okhistory.org. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Oklahoma Historical Society. 1903. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- "Five Civilized Tribes Art Show". The Indian Journal. Eufaula, Oklahoma. October 12, 1972. p. 11. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Heard names winners in Indian-arts exhibit". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. November 27, 1980. p. 25. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "New Mexico's Indian artists score well in American Indian Artist Exhibit". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. May 8, 1966. p. 35. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Obituaries: Hessing". The Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. September 15, 1998. p. 28. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Obituaries: Hessing, Valjean". The Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. October 14, 2006. pp. 1–19. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "On the Cover". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. February 1, 2008. p. Z6. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Rogers displays native graphics". The Taos News. Taos, New Mexico. January 13, 1983. p. 21. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1934 births
- 2006 deaths
- Artists from Tulsa, Oklahoma
- University of Mary Hardin–Baylor alumni
- University of Tulsa alumni
- Choctaw people
- Native American women artists
- 20th-century American women artists
- 21st-century American women artists
- 21st-century American painters
- 20th-century American painters
- Native American painters
- American women painters
- Painters from Oklahoma