Franklin Gritts
- BORN
-
August 8, 1914
Vian, Oklahoma
- DIED
-
November 8, 1996
Saint Louis, Missouri
- EDUCATION
-
Haskell Indian Nations University
Lawrence, KansasBacone College
Muskogee, OklahomaUniversity of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Franklin Gritts was a prolific Cherokee muralist and painter, also known as Oau-Nah-Jusah (They Have Returned). He started his study of art at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, before moving on to Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. While at the University of Oklahoma, Franklin studied under artists such as Acee Blue Eagle and Olle Nordmark, noted painters and muralists of the time. His art was displayed in several university-led exhibitions, and he earned a degree of Fine Arts in 1939.
In 1940, Franklin returned to Haskell in Lawrence, where he became an instructor of arts and painted several murals throughout the university. The Haskell Auditorium displays one such mural, installed in 1993. He took a brief pause in his teaching career during World War II, serving in the Navy as a photographer’s mate for the U.S.S. Franklin. Franklin then returned to teaching in Lawrence, with students such as Frankie Brave and Albin Jake. In the 1950s, he settled in St. Louis, Missouri, with his family, where he was the art director for the Sporting News and Sporting Goods Dealer magazines. He lived in St. Louis until his passing in 1996.
Today, the art of Franklin Gritts can be found on the walls of Haskell Indian Nations University, as well as in collections of the Gilcrease Museum and the Philbrook Museum of Art, both in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman, Oklahoma.
Note
In 2011, arachnologist Dr. Bernhard A. Huber named the cellar spider, Pholcus jusahi, after Franklin.
Tribal Affiliation: Cherokee
Ancestral Affiliation: No Ancestral Affiliation with Missouri – Artistic Practice in Missouri
Location of Practice: Lawrence, KS
For more information on Native peoples in the Missouri region, please visit Native American Art in Missouri: A Brief Historical Context.
Franklin Gritts, The Eagle Dance, n.d.
Painting.
Reproduced with permission of Galen Gritts.
Franklin Gritts, Franklin Gritts Painting Sequoyah, 1941.
Photograph of painting that is hung in the administration office at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas right outside of the president's office.
Reproduced with permission of Galen Gritts.
Franklin Gritts, War Chant, 1940.
Gouache on paper, 13 1/2 x 22 3/64 in.
Gilcrease Museum, Gift of John C. Hillyer, 1940, 02.1721.
Reproduced with permission of Galen Gritts.
Progressive Educators’ Convention, Palmer House
Organized by Palmer House
Organized by Palmer House
Philbrook Museum of Art Exhibition
Organized by Philbrook Museum of Art
Organized by Philbrook Museum of Art
Oklahoma Museum of Art Exhibition
Organized by Oklahoma Museum of Art
Organized by Oklahoma Museum of Art
Muskogee Public Library Exhibition
Organized by Muskogee Public Library
Organized by Muskogee Public Library
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Exhibition
Organized by Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
Organized by Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
Denver Art Museum Exhibition
Organized by Denver Art Museum
Organized by Denver Art Museum
Philbrook Museum of Art Exhibition
Organized by Philbrook Museum of Art
Organized by Philbrook Museum of Art
Awards & Exhibitions 13
Progressive Educators’ Convention, Palmer House
Organized by Palmer House
Organized by Palmer House
Philbrook Museum of Art Exhibition
Organized by Philbrook Museum of Art
Organized by Philbrook Museum of Art
Oklahoma Museum of Art Exhibition
Organized by Oklahoma Museum of Art
Organized by Oklahoma Museum of Art
Muskogee Public Library Exhibition
Organized by Muskogee Public Library
Organized by Muskogee Public Library
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Exhibition
Organized by Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
Organized by Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
Denver Art Museum Exhibition
Organized by Denver Art Museum
Organized by Denver Art Museum
Philbrook Museum of Art Exhibition
Organized by Philbrook Museum of Art
Organized by Philbrook Museum of Art
References
Artist clippings file is available at:
"Franklin Gritts: artist file." Spencer Art Reference Library, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
Bibliography
Select Sources
U.S. Navy (1946), “State Summary of War Casualties [Kansas]” in Combat Connected Naval Casualties: World War II by States, Vol. 1 Alabama through Missouri, 20, Ancestry, accessed August 19, 2024, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/148764:2324?ssrc=pt&tid=105864&pid=322100012481.
“Roll Call of Alumni Newsmakers: A Series of Brief News Stories of Events,” Sooner Magazine 33, no. 10 (July 1961): 18.
Lydia L. Wyckoff, ed., Visions and Voices: Native American Painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art (Tulsa: The Philbrook Museum of Art, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996).
“Funeral Notices: Franklin Gritts,” St. Louis Dispatch, November 10, 1966, 55.
“Franklin Gritts” Art in Embassies, US Department of State, accessed July 2, 2024, https://art.state.gov/personnel/franklin_gritts/
“Franklin Gritts Is Appointed to Haskell,” The Bacone Indian, October 7, 1940, 3.
Bernhard A. Huber, “Revision and Cladistic Analysis of Pholcus and Closely Related Taxa (Araneae, Pholcidae),” Bonner Zoologische Monographien 58 (2011): 403, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233733114_Revision_and_cladistic_analysis_of_Pholcus_and_closely_related_taxa_Araneae_Pholcidae.
Mark Hansen, “Fortunate Eagle Part of Unwritten History: Native American Movement Leader Has Lawrence Ties,” The University Daily Kansan, February 27, 2001, 6A; https://web.archive.org/web/20110714035855/http://markshansen.com/eagle.pdf.
Bill Burchardt, “Plains Indian Painting: Eight Paintings from the Collection of The Philbrook Art Center,” Oklahoma Today 18 (Summer 1958): 13-28.
Core Reference Sources
Jeanne Snodgrass King and Heye Foundation Museum of the American Indian, with contributions from the Museum of the American Indian, American Indian Painters: A Biographical Directory (New York: Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1968), 68.
Patrick D. Lester, The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters (Tulsa: SIR Publications, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995), 212.
Susan Craig, Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists (active before 1945) (Lawrence: University of Kansas, 2009).
Anita Jacobsen, Jacobsen's Biographical Index of American Artists (Carrollton: A.J. Publications, 2002).
Image Credits
Artwork
Franklin Gritts, The Eagle Dance, n.d.
Painting.
Reproduced with permission of Galen Gritts.
Franklin Gritts, Franklin Gritts Painting Sequoyah, 1941.
Photograph of painting that is hung in the administration office at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas right outside of the president's office.
Reproduced with permission of Galen Gritts.
Franklin Gritts, War Chant, 1940.
Gouache on paper, 13 1/2 x 22 3/64 in.
Gilcrease Museum, Gift of John C. Hillyer, 1940, 02.1721.
Reproduced with permission of Galen Gritts.
Portrait of Artist
Unknown, Portrait of Franklin Gritts, 1941.
Photograph.
Reproduced with permission of Galen Gritts.
Contributors
Katie McClure, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Artist Record Published
Published on August 30, 2024
Learn more
References
Artist clippings file is available at:
"Franklin Gritts: artist file." Spencer Art Reference Library, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
Bibliography
Select Sources
U.S. Navy (1946), “State Summary of War Casualties [Kansas]” in Combat Connected Naval Casualties: World War II by States, Vol. 1 Alabama through Missouri, 20, Ancestry, accessed August 19, 2024, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/148764:2324?ssrc=pt&tid=105864&pid=322100012481.
“Roll Call of Alumni Newsmakers: A Series of Brief News Stories of Events,” Sooner Magazine 33, no. 10 (July 1961): 18.
Lydia L. Wyckoff, ed., Visions and Voices: Native American Painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art (Tulsa: The Philbrook Museum of Art, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996).
“Funeral Notices: Franklin Gritts,” St. Louis Dispatch, November 10, 1966, 55.
“Franklin Gritts” Art in Embassies, US Department of State, accessed July 2, 2024, https://art.state.gov/personnel/franklin_gritts/
“Franklin Gritts Is Appointed to Haskell,” The Bacone Indian, October 7, 1940, 3.
Bernhard A. Huber, “Revision and Cladistic Analysis of Pholcus and Closely Related Taxa (Araneae, Pholcidae),” Bonner Zoologische Monographien 58 (2011): 403, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233733114_Revision_and_cladistic_analysis_of_Pholcus_and_closely_related_taxa_Araneae_Pholcidae.
Mark Hansen, “Fortunate Eagle Part of Unwritten History: Native American Movement Leader Has Lawrence Ties,” The University Daily Kansan, February 27, 2001, 6A; https://web.archive.org/web/20110714035855/http://markshansen.com/eagle.pdf.
Bill Burchardt, “Plains Indian Painting: Eight Paintings from the Collection of The Philbrook Art Center,” Oklahoma Today 18 (Summer 1958): 13-28.
Core Reference Sources
Jeanne Snodgrass King and Heye Foundation Museum of the American Indian, with contributions from the Museum of the American Indian, American Indian Painters: A Biographical Directory (New York: Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1968), 68.
Patrick D. Lester, The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters (Tulsa: SIR Publications, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995), 212.
Susan Craig, Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists (active before 1945) (Lawrence: University of Kansas, 2009).
Anita Jacobsen, Jacobsen's Biographical Index of American Artists (Carrollton: A.J. Publications, 2002).
Contributors
Katie McClure, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Artist Record Published
Published on August 30, 2024
Updated on None
