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Gorman sculpture finds new home on OU's campus
Perhaps one of the greatest works of Navajo artist R.C. Gorman can now be seen at its new home on the University of Oklahoma's Norman campus. The piece, titled "Winona" and dating from 1981, is Gorman's largest sculpture. The sculpture is a gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Simpson of Duncan.
"The entire University family deeply appreciates this extraordinary gift of this outstanding work of art by Kathryn and Robert Simpson," said OU President David L. Boren. "Their meaningful gift enhances the quality of life on our campus."
The sculpture is located north of Brooks Street on Elm Avenue, just northwest of Ellison Hall, visible by car or on foot. The location is gently framed by large trees, and a horizontal limb above the sculpture echoes the horizontality of the sculpture. Yet the site is also fairly open so that the sculpture is not "fenced in."
"I think that the sculpture looks spectacular," said Eric M. Lee, director and chief curator of OU's Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. "It is a work that should be seen 'in the round. When you go out to see the sculpture, look at it from all sides, and from a distance."
Gorman is considered by many to be the premiere Indian artist. Labeled by the New York Times as "The Picasso of American Indian Art," Gorman's work, especially the lithographs, drawings and bronzes, is collected as often by lovers of contemporary art as by those specializing in Indian art.
Gorman was born in 1931. He has lived in Taos, N.M., and owned the Navajo Gallery there since 1968. The Navajo Gallery is one of the oldest galleries in Taos. Another cast of "Winona" is on display at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos.
In this sculpture the artist was inspired by the work of other artists ranging from the Mexican figurative sculptor Francisco Zuniga to the English abstract sculptor Henry Moore, as well as Oklahoma's own Allan Houser.
"OU and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art are extremely lucky to have been given this sculpture," Lee said.
Story Contact: OU Public Affairs