John Louis Clarke
(5/10/1881—11/20/1970)
Artist
Three-quarters Blackfoot Indian, John Louis Clarke was early-deafened by scarlet fever and preferred to communicate in sign language, written notes, and through his amazingly varied artworks—drawings, paintings, relief panels, bronzes, clay figures, and (especially) woodcarvings, some of them depicting Blackfoot themes, others wildlife of Montana’s East Glacier National Park near his studio on the Blackfoot Reservation: bears, bison, eagles, wildcats, mountain goats—all vividly observed and beautifully crafted. Even his letters were embellished with delightful sketches. He attended the Montana and North Dakota schools for the deaf, and had a little formal art education. He often signed his works with his Blackfoot name, Cutapuis—“man who talks not.” Despite his prolific output and the recognition he received during his lifetime (magnate John D. Rockefeller purchased seven of his works), he is one of our most under-appreciated artists. (Note: Clarke attended NDSD from 1894 to 1897).
- http://www.deafpeople.com/history/history_info/clarke.html
John Louis Clarke, a Blackfoot Indian who was an NDSD student 1894-1897, became very well known for his wood carvings of wild animals and Native Americans. HIs work was exhibited at fine arts galleries throughout the United States and London, England. Several pieces of his work became part of a permanent display at the Chicago Art Institute, John also created the insignia of a mountain goat for the Great Northern Railroad freight cars.
- NDSD Banner Centennial Issue
Tucked away in a small structure on the main street of East Glacier (Montana) is the John L. Clarke Western Art Gallery and Memorial Museum. John L. Clarke, whose Blackfeet name was Cutapuis, "The Man Who Talks Not," was a Blackfeet Indian born in Highwood in 1881. Epidemics of smallpox and scarlet fever swept through the area in the early 1880s, killing five of Clarke's brothers and leaving him, at age two and a half, deaf.
After his father moved what remained of the family to Midvale, near the present site of East Glacier, Clarke was sent away at age thirteen to a school for deaf children (North Dakota School for the Deaf from 1894-1897 and then Montana School for the Deaf). There he learned wood carving, and his obvious talent for the skill led to a budding career in art. His first big break came in 1917, when the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia began regularly exhibiting his work. Then, a year later at age thirty-seven, he met and married Mamie Peters Simon, an astute businesswoman who became Clarke's promoter, interpreter, and secretary-manager. With their combined talents, Clarke soon became known as one of the world's best portrayers of western wildlife.
Clarke's speciality was detailed cottonwood carvings of bears, mountain goats, and other wildlife thriving in his home territory. After he died in 1970, his friend J. W. Tschache, an avid collector of Clarke's works, said about a carving of a big grizzly bear freeing itself from a trap that "the real significance of his work is that J. L. Clarke created it when he was approaching ninety years old, when his eyes were so clouded with cataracts that he could barely see. He created his sculpture almost entirely by feel."
In addition to his intricate wildlife carvings, Clarke also modeled in clay, painted in watercolors and oils, and sketched in charcoal and crayon. At the memorial museum in East Glacier - which his adopted daughter, Joyce Clark Turvey, started in 1977 - limited editions of Clarke's works are for sale, along with the creations of numerous other western artists.
Michael McCoy (2007). Montana Off the Beatan Path
In the 1950's John was comissioned to carve a large wood frieze commerating the Blackfoot heritage. It took him 4 years to carve the 1800 pound, 4' X 13' cottonwood carving but when he was finished, the carving, (titled Blackfoot Encampment) was considered the most accurate depiction of the Blackfoot people. For years it hung at the hospital in Browning, The Harry Adams Fieldhouse at the University of Montana in Missoula, and The School for the Deaf and Blind in Great Falls. It now has found its permanent home the Montana Historical Society in Helen, Montana.