Allan Houser

The Lovers

Chiricahua Apache artist Allan Houser created The Lovers in 1976, one year after retiring from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he was a founding faculty member in the sculpture department. Though trained as a painter, Houser primarily worked with three-dimensional media, such as marble, bronze, and wood. In The Lovers, Houser balanced the Euro-American
modernist sculpture style that was popular in the early to mid-20th century with influences from his Chiricahua Apache culture. This is evident in his use of sleek, organic forms to gracefully depict the bond of the two Native figures. Houser lived through a period of cultural and familial rebuilding in his community. He was the first child born after the Chiricahua Apache were released from captivity, following twenty-seven years as prisoners of war. He sought to create elegant and dignified depictions of Native people to counteract the devastating realities they endured through imprisonment, forced relocation, and assimilation. In The Lovers, the connection between the couple stands as a testament to the unwavering and protective relationships within the artist’s home community over time.