" MYSTERY OF THE UNDERWATER PEOPLE "
Howard Terpning - 2013

85 s/n Giclee Canvas
33" x 43"
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Mystery of the Underwater People - Howard Terpning

These mystical inhabitants of rivers and lakes may not only be a source of sacred power
to the Blackfoot, but quite possibly to Howard Terpning as well. The Force of Nature
Humbles All Men, Moving Day on the Flathead, and now Mystery of the Underwater
People, some of Terpning’s most highly regarded, sought after and honored works,
derive their inspiration from the relationship between water and people.

At the 2013 Masters of the American West Exhibition and Sale, Mystery of the
Underwater People received the Thomas Moran Memorial Award, given in
recognition of exceptional artistic merit. This is the ninth time a Terpning
painting has won this award.

The Underwater People, or Suyitapis, may dwell in the rivers and lakes, but their
influence on land is significant. Many Blackfoot medicine bundles, painted lodge
covers and other sacred items derive their power from them. As Howard relates:
“In the early days, when the Blackfoot people lived on the land where their
ancestors were buried, they believed that other animals and people lived
under the water. Some believed that these animals looked similar to the
ones roaming their country but were different in some way, and they believed
that the underwater people also differed from them. In this scene, a man who
could be an uncle or perhaps a medicine man is explaining to these young boys
the dangers and mysteries that lie beneath the water. This was part of their
education and introduction to the adult world.”

Mystery of the Underwater People is a powerful and beautiful Greenwich Workshop
MasterWork Giclee Canvas. If you missed out on the opportunity to own The Force
of Nature Humbles All Men or would like to bless your home with the spirit of
the Underwater People, this is a work of fine art for you.

 

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