Carl Sweezy

Arapaho, 1881-1953

Birth PlaceDarlington, Oklahoma, United States, North America

Death PlaceLawton, Oklahoma, United States, North America

BiographySweezy was a Southern Arapaho painter from Oklahoma. He painted individual portraits, but was best known for his portrayals of ceremonies and dances. His Arapaho name was Wattan, meaning "Black."
Around 1895, when Sweezy was 14 years old, ethnographer James Mooney commissioned Sweezy to paint images of traditional Arapaho life. Later, Sweezy also worked with anthropologist George Dorsey. Sweezy continued to be a prolific painter, expanding his media and materials into the mid-20th century. By the 1920s Sweezy was a full-time painter.
Sweezy worked in watercolors on paper and oil on canvas, as well as house paint on board. Although he painted individual portraits, he is known for his portrayals of ceremonies and dances, sometimes with over a dozen individual figures, with implied action and narrative. Sweezy developed a technique, employed by later Southern Plains artists, of painting an active Native American Church meeting by rolling up the tipi flaps to reveal the participants inside.

Person TypeIndividual