Although known primarily for his illustrations, murals, and portraits, Charles Banks Wilson things of himself chiefly as a lithographer. "Lithography," he says, "is what made an artist of me." The 118 lithographs collected here, each reproduced from an original print in the artist’s own collection, represent fifty years of experience in the medium. True to the American regionalist tradition that influenced him, Wilson has used his own surroundings as subject matter, producing an intensely personal record of his own time and place-an Oklahoma of varied landscapes and of farmers, cowboys, miners, and Indians. The prints reproduced here are a representative sample of Wilson’s long and prolific career in lithography. Well represented are the Indian subjects for which he is most famous, including the entire Tel Little Indians series, the Plains Madonna, and portraits from the Search for the Purebloods series. Several rural landscapes, immensely popular among collectors, are included, as are prints based on Wilson’s best work in other media: book illustrations (of J. Frank Dobie’s The Mustangs, for example), murals (the Oklahoma State Capitol murals, for instance), and portraits (including Will Rogers, Jim Thorpe, and Sequoyah). Design and printing techniques are inseparable components of stone lithography, and Wilson’s works embody the skills of both artist and craftsman. His descriptions of the lithographic process are of a discipline demanding patience, foresight, dexterity, and the sheer physical strength to manipulate a printing stone that may weigh as much as two hundred pounds. The first published collection of Charles Banks Wilson’s lithographs, this unique, personal documentary includes a biographical sketch of the artist, annotations for each print, and a description of stone lithography by the artist himself. It will be judged an important contribution to contemporary art studies, and all collectors and admirers of stone lithographs, particularly those of Charles Bands Wilson, will find it a valuable reference.

The Lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson

Arts & Photography

Wilson, Charles Banks

Hunt, David C.

History & Criticism

University of Oklahoma Press

Premier Oklahoma artist Charles Banks Wilson has devoted much of his life to creating a gallery of American Indian portraits. This handsome volume of fine pencil drawings was originally collected and published as a catalog for an exhibition in 1981. It represents decades of work seeking out purebloods in each tribe and includes narratives of Wilson's experiences with his subjects. An Oklahoma Museum of Natural History publication. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Search for the Purebloods (Oklahoma Museum of Natural History)

Drawing

Univ of Oklahoma Pr

Over several decades, renowned Oklahoma artist Charles Banks Wilson sought out "purebloods" (that is, Indians of a single tribal heritage) of each of Oklahoma's tribes to create a gallery of American Indian portraits. Search for the Native American Purebloods captures the state's visual heritage in a series of seventy-seven remarkable pencil drawings, each accompanied by a narrative describing Wilson's visits with the subject. The first edition, Search for the Purebloods, served as a catalogue for an exhibition of the artist's work at the United States Capitol. This third edition contains thirteen additional drawings and an afterword by Wilson.
Out of print since 2005, the book is once again available with the generous assistance of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma.

Search for the Native American Purebloods

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