Gorman, R(udolph) C(arl) (1931–2005)

US artist. He is arguably the first American Indian artist to be internationally recognized as simply a major US artist. Although he usually drew on southwest American Indian themes, he transformed them through his art into more universally significant – and aesthetic – subjects. By the late 1960s he had developed a reputation in the USA for his work with oils, acrylics, and pastels, and in the 1970s he diversified to work on lithographs, ceramics, and occasional sculptures.

Descended from generations of Navajo craftsmen, holy men, and tribal leaders, Gorman was born in Chinle, Arizona. He was encouraged by a teacher at a mission school to develop his talent for art. After several years in the US Navy, he attended Arizona State College (now Northern Arizona University), but it was a visit to Mexico in 1958 and then a year spent at the Mexico City College (now University of the Americas) that persuaded him to become an artist. He subsequently spent several years in San Francisco, California, developing as a painter. In 1965 he presented a one-man exhibition in the Manchester Gallery in Taos, New Mexico. By 1968 his work was enjoying such success that he was able to purchase the gallery, changing its name to the Navajo Gallery, and exhibiting and selling his own and other artists' work. The gallery also served as both his home and studio.