As part of a long-term project by The Capital Group Foundation, Upham (anthropology, U. of Tulsa) and Zappia, a doctoral candidate at the U. of Santa Cruz, analyze 80 portraits of Native Americans taken by Edward Sherriff Curtis from 1900 to 1930, with an objective of bringing his art to a new audience. The portraits, printed from a collection of negatives held by his grandson, are accompanied by stories and myths from Native American culture collected by Curtis himself and published in The North American Indian, as well as essays on context and history. Copublished by the University of Washington Press and the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The Many Faces of Edward Sherriff Curtis: Portraits And Stories from Native North America

Arts & Photography

CURTIS,EDWARD S.

Zappia, Nat

Individual Artists

Gilcrease Museum

In 1938, Thomas Gilcrease, a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, opened the first museum devoted to the art of the American West. A true visionary, Gilcrease was ahead of his time in understanding the importance of America’s own heritage. His passion for art and history, his Native American ancestry, and his oil revenues coincided in a rare alignment. His legacy is an astounding collection of paintings, sculptures, artifacts, rare books, and documents. This lavishly produced book, featuring nearly two hundred color reproductions, tells the story of Gilcrease and of the renowned museum that bears his name. Compiled by the museum’s curators, Treasures of Gilcrease exemplifies the beauty and breadth of the museum’s resources. The fine art collection alone boasts more than 10,000 American works, ranging in styles from classical to romantic to impressionist and by such master artists as George Catlin, Charles M. Russell, Thomas Moran, and Frederic Remington. The works by Native artists also span styles ranging from painted hides to twentieth-century flat-style. The artifacts―300,000-plus pieces housed in the galleries and vaults―include ceramics, clothing, pipes, and objects of utility, ceremony, and ornamentation. The archives collection contains some 100,000 manuscripts, books, photographs, maps, imprints, and broadsides. Treasures of Gilcrease offers a vivid and engaging tour through these collections in the company of the experts who know them best.

Treasures of Gilcrease: Selections from the Permanent Collection

Kevin Smith

Anne Morand

Daniel C. Swan

Sarah Erwin

History & Criticism

In 1938, Thomas Gilcrease, a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, opened the first museum devoted to the art of the American West. A true visionary, Gilcrease was ahead of his time in understanding the importance of America’s own heritage. His passion for art and history, his Native American ancestry, and his oil revenues coincided in a rare alignment. His legacy is an astounding collection of paintings, sculptures, artifacts, rare books, and documents. This lavishly produced book, featuring nearly two hundred color reproductions, tells the story of Gilcrease and of the renowned museum that bears his name.Compiled by the museum’s curators, Treasures of Gilcrease exemplifies the beauty and breadth of the museum’s resources. The fine art collection alone boasts more than 10,000 American works, ranging in styles from classical to romantic to impressionist and by such master artists as George Catlin, Charles M. Russell, Thomas Moran, and Frederic Remington. The works by Native artists also span styles ranging from painted hides to twentieth-century flat-style. The artifacts300,000-plus pieces housed in the galleries and vaultsinclude ceramics, clothing, pipes, and objects of utility, ceremony, and ornamentation. The archives collection contains some 100,000 manuscripts, books, photographs, maps, imprints, and broadsides. Treasures of Gilcrease offers a vivid and engaging tour through these collections in the company of the experts who know them best.

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

George Catlin's Souvenir of the North American Indians: A Facsimile of the Original Album

History

Truettner, William H.

Catlin, George

Americas

Book by Anne Morand, Kevin Smith, Daniel C. Swan, Sarah Erwin

Charles Banks Wilson is one of Oklahoma’s most beloved and accomplished artists. Known for his portraits and murals honoring great Oklahomans and Oklahoma history, and for his career-spanning series of portraits of Native Americans, his place in the history of American art is assured. This stunning book, featuring nearly two hundred reproductions of his works, celebrates both his life story and his artistic legacy.
As demonstrated in this book, Wilson’s work is characterized both by technical expertise and aesthetic genius. But his place in the hearts of Americans and in the company of such great regionalists as Thomas Hart Benton is secured by his eye for the everyday truths of humbler subjects: for example, boys leaping into a swimming hole or cooks stirring the bean pot at a powwow. His work ranges widely across media; he is equally skilled in pencil, ink, watercolor, and oil, and he is a master lithographer. 
The contributors to this book reveal Wilson’s devotion to American heartland life through detailed analysis of his works, many from the Gilcrease Collection, created over nearly seven decades of the artist’s life. Focusing on Wilson’s life as well as his art, the contributors make a special effort to convey his artistic philosophy through his own words. As a result, this remarkable volume offers unprecedented access to the man and his work.

Charles Banks Wilson

Morand, Anne

Haralson, Carol

Ramer, Randy

Klein, Carole

As a boy growing up in eastern Oklahoma, Willard Stone spent much of his free time drawing. Admiring the work of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, he dreamed of becoming a painter. When he was thirteen, a dynamite cap he was holding exploded and he lost segments of two fingers and the thumb of his right hand. Deeply affected, he withdrew, thinking he would never become the artist he hoped to be.
But Stone’s deep desire to create motivated him to rise above his disability. He began shaping little animal figures using the wet clay from the ditches near his home. Eventually he discovered that the medium of wood appealed to him more, and he adapted carving tools to fit his injured hand. He was transformed by his love of wood and his desire to shape it.
This lavishly illustrated volume presents the life and work of woodcarver Willard Stone. Four authors, including staff of the Gilcrease Museum and one of Stone’s grandsons, provide insight into the artist’s biography, his carving techniques, his sources of inspiration, and his legacy as an Oklahoma artist. These essays and more than 200 full-color and black-and-white photographs of Stone’s pieces follow the grain of a human life, visible in sublimely carved wood.
Stone’s sculptures exhibit his love of nature, representing fertility, birth, regeneration, and the seasons while reflecting his deep understanding of the balance of nature. His masterful use of the wood grain, an integral element in his carvings, demonstrates his thoughtfulness in the planning stages of the artistic process. Referring to himself as a “folklorist in wood,” Stone carved his philosophy of life into his works, creating stories that glowed with universal truths and resonated with his own personality. In addition to his ability to create beautiful forms, it is his gift of storytelling that lends the carvings of Willard Stone their profound mark of distinction.

Willard Stone

Roblin, Kimberly

Hansen, Regan

Used. Very Good conditions. May have soft reading marks and name of the previous owner.

After Lewis & Clark: The Forces of Change, 1806-1871

Hood, Gary Allen

Price, Byron (Introduction by)

Architecture

Exploring Oklahoma through paintings and sculpture, Art of the Oklahoma State Capitol examines the history of the state from the Indian Territory period through the twentieth century and beyond. Focusing on the art collected by Senator Charles Ford and sponsored by the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, it reveals—through the vision of talented artists from around the state—the personalities of those who have shaped Oklahoma’s past and present.
Art of the Oklahoma State Capitol is divided into five sections, each detailing different aspects of the Oklahoma experience. The first section, “Oklahoma’s People,” features portraits of the famous as well as the ordinary men and women who challenged themselves and those around them to improve life for the citizens of the state and of the nation. The next section, “Oklahoma’s Beauty,” examines the state’s ever-changing landscape, from the Tall Grass Prairie to the flatland of the Panhandle. The section “Living History” presents paintings of historical scenes, both international and local. Sections on bronze sculpture and nineteenth-century lithographs by McKenny and Hall round out the book and demonstrate the depth of the Senate Collection.
Senator Ford has personally selected each work of art in this unique collection. Showcasing works by Charles Banks Wilson, Mike Wimmer, Linda Tuma Roberston, and many others, this book highlights some of the more prominent contemporary artists working in Oklahoma.

Art of the Oklahoma State Capitol: The Senate Collection

Burke, Bob

The story of Thomas Gilcrease (1890–1962) is the story of the world’s first oil boom, of a state in its formative years, of marriages and fortunes made and lost—but most lastingly it is the story of how the Gilcrease collection came to exist, and how Gilcrease Museum became an unparalleled treasure house now owned by the citizens of Tulsa, Oklahoma. With over 500,000 artifacts, pieces of art, and archival gems, it is a testament to one man’s dedication and vision. In Thomas Gilcrease, the man behind that museum is revealed.
Born in 1890, Thomas Gilcrease came of age at roughly the same time that Indian Territory became the forty-sixth state of the Union, in 1907. As a citizen of the Creek Nation, he received a 160-acre allotment near Kiefer—land located, as it turned out, within the famous Glenn Pool oil field. By August 1909, the forty-nine wells on this parcel were producing 25,000 barrels a month. Gilcrease and his wife began traveling the country, taking in art galleries and museums in New York City and the World’s Fair in San Francisco. It was in Tulsa, however, that he purchasedRural Courtship, his first piece of art, and began a collection that eventually contained thousands
As he advanced in age and his wealth increased, Gilcrease contemplated how to use his fortune to create something of value for future generations. In 1931 he told his friend Robert Humber of his decision: he would establish the Gilcrease Foundation, which would fund a museum, a library, and a home for underprivileged children.
The ten essays in this volume, illustrated with more than 100 color images and rarely seen historical photographs, tell the story of one man’s life and legacy. The contributors include present and former staff of the Gilcrease Museum and regular contributors to its journal. “Every man must leave a track,” Gilcrease once said, “and it might as well be a good one.”

Thomas Gilcrease

Biographies & Memoirs

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