Artwork copyright Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

Artwork copyright Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

Artwork copyright Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

Owyhee Desert, 1984

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
(American | Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, born 1940, died 2025)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Native American artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith's Owyhee Desert diptych expressively combines representation and abstraction to depict a dynamic and elemental landscape. The painting is named for the desert that stretches from northern Nevada to the southern edge of the Columbia Plateau in Oregon and Idaho.

This artwork is part of Beyond Blue Mountains, a collection that was curated by late Tlingit (Native Alaskan) artist Jim Schoppert. It presents the work of Native American artists of diverse heritage, ideas, materials, and styles. The collection takes an in-depth look at the artists’ unique voices and interpretations of tradition.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Department of Corrections.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Celebrated Native American artist Jaune Quick-to-see Smith (Salish-Kootenai, 1940-2025) used her art to comment on American Indian identity, histories of oppression, and environmental issues.

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith grew up on the Flathead Nation in Montana in a home where art and horses were equally important. She traveled around the Pacific Northwest and California with her father, who was a horse trader. She graduated from Puyallup High School in Western Washington and earned an Associate of Arts degree at Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington in 1960. She studied at the University of Washington before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Education from Framingham State College in Massachusetts in 1976. She had to take many breaks from college to earn money. In 1980, she earned a Master of Arts degree in Art from the University of New Mexico. Quick-to-See Smith’s artworks are represented in many museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. She was the first Native American artist to be the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York City.