Background
Francis Blackbear Bosin was born June 5, 1921 in Cyril, Oklahoma near Anadarko.
Francis Blackbear Bosin was born June 5, 1921 in Cyril, Oklahoma near Anadarko.
He attended Saint Patrick"s Mission School in Anadarko and was exposed to the paintings of the Kiowa Five. In 1940, Bosin graduated from Cyril High School and moved to Wichita, Kansas that year.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served during World World War World War II In Kansas, he worked as a color separator and plate maker for Western Lithograph and as an artist for Boeing. In 2010, Margaret Williams Norton wrote a book about Blackbear Bosin that focuses on his The Keeper of the Plains sculpture that sits at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers in Wichita, Kansas. Essentially self-taught, Bosin combined Southern Plains flat style painting with surrealism.
His first solo exhibition was in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1945.
In 1955, National Geographic featured his acclaimed painting, Prairie Fire. He was the only Native American artist to participate in the 1965 White House Festival of Arts.
Perhaps his most famous work is Wichita"s iconic The Keeper of the Plains, a 44-foot steel sculpture erected in 1974 at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers. lieutenant depicts a Native American warrior offering a blessing to the sky.
Over the years his work became increasingly complex and the subject matter more profound.
Bosin also designed the insignia for the Wolf Creek Nuclear power plant. Bosin died on August 9, 1980.