W. Richard West, Sr.

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Walter Richard West, Sr., also called Dick West , (born September 8, 1912 in Canadian County , Oklahoma ; † May 3, 1996 ) was a Southern Cheyenne painter , sculptor and teacher. His Cheyenne name is Wapah Nahyah, which means Lightfooted Runner in English .

Career

Walter Richard West, Sr. was born in 1912 in a teepee near the Darlington Agency on the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation . His father was Lightfoot West. West's mother was named Rena Flying Coyote, also known as Emily Black Wolf, whose parents were called Big Belly Woman and Thunder Bull. West attended Concho Indian Boarding School and the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence ( Kansas ), when she was still a high school was. In 1935 he graduated from high school. One of his first art mentors was the Arapaho painter Carl Sweezy . From 1936 to 1938 West attended Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he graduated with an Associate of Arts (AA) degree. During his stay at Bacone College, he studied under the well-known Muskogee - Pawnee - Wichita artist Acee Blue Eagle . As a young man he played West Football and worked in the oil fields. At the University of Oklahoma (OU) West made a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in 1941 and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in 1950 . During his studies at the OU he studied under the Swedish artist Oscar Jacobson , who supervised the Kiowa Five . Jacobson's active support of the Native Americans helped West overcome the widespread racial prejudice he encountered in Norman. Between 1941 and 1942 he moved to Phoenix ( Arizona ), where he Olle Nordmark mural studied. West then continued his studies at Northeastern State University , the University of Tulsa, and Redlands College .

He married Maribelle McCrea in 1940. In 1970 he married his second wife Rene Wagoner. He had two sons: W. Richard West, Jr. and James Lee West.

In 1941 West began teaching at the Phoenix Indian School , but then joined the US Navy because of World War II and served in Europe between 1942 and 1946. After completing his military service, he returned to teaching at the Phoenix Indian School . He then headed the art department at Bacone College from 1947 to 1970. From 1970 to 1977 he taught art at Haskell Indian Junior College . During his teaching activities he influenced numerous Indian artists. His students included successful artists such as Joan Hill , Enoch Kelly Haney , Johnnie Tiger , Sharron Ahtone Harjo, and Virginia Stroud . From 1979 to 1980 he was a professor emeritus at Bacone College.

Works of art

W. Richard West, Sr. was a master of traditional flat style painting based on the visual and narrative aspects of Plains- animal skin based -Painting. The focus of flat style painting is often tribal dances and stories. West portrays the Cheyenne culture in its very traditional narrative form in his works.

West made a complete departure from this style in his Indian Christ series. These are lush, allegorical oil paintings of stories from the New Testament set in the South Plains . Through this series, West wanted to portray the universality of Jesus Christ .

Although known for his works in flat style painting, West also painted abstract and highly stylized works in oil , watercolor , tempera, and gouache . He illustrated four books and also made sculptures out of wood and metal.

Awards and honors

The Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned West in 1941 with a mural for the United States Post Office in Okemah, Oklahoma. The Philbrook Museum of Art presented him with two Grand Awards and a 1964 Waite Phillips Outstanding Indian Artist Award .

The Eastern Baptist College awarded him in 1962 and the Baker University in 1976 each have an honorary doctorate in humane letters . From 1979 to 1980, West was a commissioner on the Indian Arts and Crafts Board .

Public collections

Quotes

West gave the following quote in 1955:

"[T] he Indian artist must be allowed freedom to absorb influences outside of his own art forms and see the promise of a new lane of expression that should keep the Indian's art the art form termed 'native Indian painting,' and I give my student every opportunity to execute it ... I have always felt that the term abstraction has been a part of the Indian's artistic thinking longer than most European contemporary influences and perhaps in a [truer] form ... "

literature

  • Lester, Patrick D .: The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters, Norman and London: The Oklahoma University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-8061-9936-9
  • Wyckoff, Lydia L., ed .: Visions and voices: Native American painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma: Philbrook Museum of Art, 1996, ISBN 0-86659-013-7

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Lester, 1995, p. 607
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Jones, Ruthe Blalock: West, Walter Richard, Sr. (1812-1996) , Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Nov. 3, 2009
  3. ↑ a b c Wyckoff, 1996, p. 288
  4. ^ Post Office Mural - Okemah, Oklahoma , Living New Deal
  5. ↑ Wyckoff, 1996, p. 287
personal data
SURNAME West, W. Richard Sr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES West, Walter Richard Sr. (full name); West, Dick (nickname); Wapah Nahyah (Cheyenne name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist of the Southern Cheyenne
DATE OF BIRTH September 8, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Canadian County , Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1996