{{Short description|American painter}} {{Infobox person | name = Louis Akin | image = Louis Benton Akin (1868-1913).jpg | birth_name = Louis Benton Akin | birth_date = June 6, 1868 | birth_place = Portland, Oregon, USA | death_date = January 2, 1913 (aged 44) | death_place = Flagstaff, Arizona, USA | occupation = Painter, Illustrator | years_active = 1900-1912 }}
'''Louis Benton Akin''' (1868–1913) was an American painter and illustrator of the early twentieth century. He is best known for his landscapes of the Grand Canyon and his depictions of Hopi cultural life.<ref name="CraftsmanObit">{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Louis Akin, Painter: In Memory |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ATTES33RYMBIEU8F/pages/AVAD6J3LPKIX7K9E |url-status=live |magazine=The Craftsman |publisher=The Craftsman Publishing Co. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626181637/https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ATTES33RYMBIEU8F/pages/AVAD6J3LPKIX7K9E |archive-date=2021-06-26 |date=1913-03-06 |access-date=2021-06-26 }}</ref>
Akin was born in Portland, Oregon, on June 6, 1868. He began his early career there as a sign painter. In 1893, he moved to New York City to attend art school at the Art League of New York. For the following several years he worked as an illustrator for books and magazines. However, an obituary characterized his work during this time as, "not very important."<ref name="CraftsmanObit"/>
Around 1903, Akin relocated to the Hopi Reservation in Northern Arizona. He lived with the Hopi for a few years and painted many aspects of their daily life. By 1905 he was showing his works in New York City, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. His work generated general interest,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=A Land of Rainbow Cliffs. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80301857/louis-akin-at-clausen-gallery/ |work=The New York Times |location=New York City |date=1905-04-21 |page=9 |access-date=2021-06-26}}</ref> but some critics had reservations about its overall quality.<ref name="CraftsmanObit"/>
In the same year, his talent was discovered by Arizona Railways that funded him to portrait a sketch on Indians to highlight significance of the region as a tourist destination. He toured the area to paint his famed paintings Hopi and other life-depicting portraits. His artwork depicting the life of Indians were admiringly adopted by the Railways advertisement printouts.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/through-the-earth-darkly-female-spirituality-in-comparative-perspective |title=Through the Earth Darkly : Female Spirituality in Comparative Perspective |date=1996 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4742-8167-6 |doi=10.5040/9781350005631.ch-009}}</ref>
For the rest of his life, Akin alternated time between New York City and Arizona, with a few trips to North American wilderness areas. Akin became known for numerous landscapes of the Grand Canyon, but also painted the Canadian Rockies<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Louis Akin |title=The Unexplored Beauty of the Canadian Rockies |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A23EARVUJ5CBHS8P/pages/ABFDCGK44NDXDY84 |url-status=live |magazine=The Craftsman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626205414/https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A23EARVUJ5CBHS8P/pages/ABFDCGK44NDXDY84 |archive-date=2021-06-26 |date=1909-12-03 |access-date=2021-06-26}}</ref> and Glacier National Park.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Louis Akin Art Collection Now Being Exhibited Here |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79872051/louis-akin-in-st-paul-mn/ |work=Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis, MN |date=1910-11-06 |page=33 |access-date=2021-06-26}}</ref>
In 1911, the American Museum of Natural History granted Akin a commission to paint murals for the museum's "Southwest Room."<ref name="CraftsmanObit"/> The murals were to depict Hopi cultural life and nearby landscapes. Akin died before completing the murals, but his studies were exhibited posthumously in New York and Flagstaff.<ref name="CraftsmanObit"/><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Babbitt Brothers Advertisement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80305918/babbitt-exhibits-akin/ |work=The Coconino Sun |location=Flagstaff, Arizona |date=1913-08-15 |page=8 |access-date=2021-06-26}}</ref>
Akin died of pneumonia on January 2, 1913, in Flagstaff, Arizona. He was 44.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Louis Akin Obituary Note |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15619557/obit-akin-louis-1913/ |work=The New York Times |location=New York City |date=1913-01-04 |page=9 |access-date=2021-06-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Louis B. Akin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34241007/louis-b-akin-4-jan-1913-ny/ |work=The Sun |location=New York City |date=1913-01-04 |page=7 |access-date=2021-06-26}}</ref>
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Babbitt |first=Bruce E. |author-link=Bruce Babbitt |date=1973 |isbn=0873581113 |publisher=Northland Press |title=Color and light: The southwest canvases of Louis Akin}} * {{cite magazine |author=Louis Akin |title=Hopi Indians - Gentle Folk |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AO534KX5WTSF5X9D/pages/AMONVY5GIP6BVI9B |url-status=live |magazine=The Craftsman |publisher=The Craftsman Publishing Co. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626203831/https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AO534KX5WTSF5X9D/pages/AMONVY5GIP6BVI9B |archive-date=2021-06-26 |date=1906-06-03 |access-date=2021-06-26 }} {{refend}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Louis B. Akin}} * [https://www.valleyfineart.com/artist-bio/?at=LouisAkin Louis Akin Biography] * [https://www.medicinemangallery.com/louis-akin-biography Louis Benton Akin (1868-1913) Biography] * [https://salmagundi.lightningbasehosted.com/louis-benton-akin-1868-1913/ Louis Benton Akin (1868-1913)] * [https://zaplinlampert.com/artist/louis-akin/ Louis Akin (1868 - 1913)] * {{Find a Grave|20627661}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Akin, Louis}} Category:1868 births Category:1913 deaths Category:Southwestern artists Category:Artists from Portland, Oregon