Knife Oil Painting

My father received an oil painting in 1967, which was painted by a guy in the state prison in Kansas. This guy is the first artist to be recognized at the national level to use a putty knife. The name on the table has disappeared, but we think it spells Gowan, but I could not find anything about the person.

A knife was used to apply oil paintings on canvas for centuries. artist's palette is very similar to a putty knife.

For this reason, I doubt an artist would become "national" was recognized for this purpose because it is not different from the technique used internationally, hundreds of years.