Allen Sapp
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| Cutting Hay | | Acrylic on canvas | | 16 x 20 Inches | $ 3855
(includes frame) |
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(Please email the gallery to be notified when new work by Allen Sapp arrives.)
Every decade of Allen Sapp’s paintings portray a personal kind of realism, the result of his knowledge and involvement with everything he paints - people, the landscape, and the animals.
Allen Sapp was born on the Red Pheasant Reserve in
northern Saskatchewan. While still a youngster his grandmother, Maggie Soonias, encouraged him to paint and continued to be the inspiration for many of his paintings during her lifetime and even to this day.
Allen Sapp has been recognized
nationally, and internationally, for his paintings of life on the northern plains as well as works depicting the culture of his people, the Cree. In 1975, he was honoured by election to membership in the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts "in recognition of
his outstanding achievements in the visual arts field." Since then he has been acknowledged not only for his painting abilities but also because of his contributions to society, as a man proud of his Indian ancestry, his culture, and his Cree language.
He was named Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the first recipients of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, and in 1996 honoured by the Saskatchewan Arts Board with the Lifetime Award of Excellence in the Arts. Three books have been produced with
reproductions of his paintings, as well as numerous film documentaries relating to his life and artwork. In 1994, "Kiskayetum - Allen Sapp, A Retrospective," opened at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, toured various cities in Canada, and closed at
the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 1996. With the encouragement of James Kurtz, Allen Sapp painted very large pieces in preparation for the travelling exhibition "Kiskayetum".
Many of his paintings portray the culture and life of the Cree
people, including Powwows and other activities, while others depict people involved in cutting wood in the bush, children playing hockey outdoors on small patches of ice, or his grandmother feeding the chickens. Sapp has managed to capture the beauty of
a prairie winter sunset, the white glistening snow on a cold winter day or the dull grey sky, in November when the days are short in duration and sunshine.
Allen Sapp's work is represented in major private and corporate collections throughout
the world, as well as in the permanent collection of the Allen Sapp Museum, North Battleford, Saskatchewan. The museum is the legacy of the late Dr. Gonor, who was his friend and patron for many years.
On March 12th, 1999, Allen Sapp was
honoured as the lifetime Achievement recipient of the 1999 National Aboriginal Awards at the Centre of the Arts in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Lifetime Achievement Award is the Aboriginal Community's highest honour bestowed upon its own achievers. In May
1998 the University Regina conferred on Allen Sapp "the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa." Allen Sapp has humbly accepted these many awards saying it is for his people "the Cree" and he hopes that it will give confidence and encouragement to the
young people.
