Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Confederated Salish Flathead Artist

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith was born in 1940 on the Confederated Salish Flathead Reservation in St. Ignatius, Montana. She was raised on the Flathead Reservation and spent her early life with her father who was a horse trainer. As a result, horses have had an important influence in both her art and in her life. Her inspiration comes from the combination of the experience of traditional life on the reservation and learning about the work of modern artists such as Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, and Robert Rauschenberg while in school.

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (1940-present) attended Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington, Framingham State College in Massachusetts and the University of New Mexico. She has honorary doctorate degrees from Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts, The Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Art and the University of New Mexico.

She works in a variety of media, including oil, pastel and printmaking.  Her work is a study in the way the past and present history of Native Americans intertwine with each other. She uses symbols and words to tell stories with her paintings, juxtaposing the images in a way that tells a story. Her paintings are part of collections in numerous museums including the Smithsonian, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She has had numerous solo exhibits and has lectured all over the world. 

TAGS: Confederated Salish Flathead Reservation, printmaking, paintings