Woody Big Bow
Tse Ko Yate
Born
Woodrow Wilson Big Bow

(1915-01-29)January 29, 1915
Carnegie, Oklahoma, US
DiedJuly 10, 1988(1988-07-10) (aged 73)
Bethany, Oklahoma, US
NationalityKiowa, American

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Big Bow (January 29, 1915 – July 10, 1988), was a Kiowa painter, contractor and builder.[1][2] He painted in the flat style, often depicting Kiowa people and Indigenous life as well as natural scenery.[3][4][5] Big Bow exhibited his artwork across the United States and Europe and has works in the public collections of several institutions including the Gilcrease Museum, the Philbrook Museum of Art, the Wichita Art Museum, and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.[3]

Big Bow was born in Carnegie, Oklahoma,[2] and was the great-grandson of Kiowa Chief Big Bow (Zepko-Ete). He was raised on his family's land in the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1939, where he studied under Swedish artist Oscar Jacobson.[2]

Big Bow worked for a time as a set painter for Western films.[1] He also created murals for the interior of the RCA Building in New York City and for the Southwest Museum of the American Indian in Los Angeles.[6]

A yellow Thunderbird graphic on a red diamond
Insignia for the 45th Infantry, designed by Woody Big Bow

In 1939, his design submission was selected as the official shoulder sleeve insignia of the U.S. 45th Infantry Division, headquartered in Oklahoma City. Big Bow's artwork depicts a yellow Thunderbird on a red diamond shape.[3]

Big Bow died in 1988 in Bethany, Oklahoma. He is buried in the Fort Cobb Cemetery.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 King, Jeanne Snodgrass (1968). American Indian painters; a biographical directory. Smithsonian Libraries. New York : Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
  2. 1 2 3 Lester, Patrick D. (Patrick David) (1995). The biographical directory of Native American painters. Internet Archive. Tulsa, OK : SIR Publications ; Norman, OK : Distributed by University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-9936-8.
  3. 1 2 3 "Big Bow, Woodrow Wilson | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  4. ↑ "Woody Big Bow - Biography". www.askart.com. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  5. ↑ "Treescape / Woody Big Bow, January 29, 1915 - July 10, 1988, Native American; Kiowa (Artist) - Gilcrease Museum". collections.gilcrease.org. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  6. ↑ "Big Bow, Woody - Woodrow Wilson Big Bow | Oklahoma Historical Society". okhistory.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  7. ↑ "Woody Big Bow". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
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