Woodrow Wilson Big Bow
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Big Bow (January 29, 1915 – July 10, 1988), was a Kiowa painter, contractor and builder. He painted in the flat style, often depicting Kiowa people and Indigenous life as well as natural scenery. Big Bow exhibited his artwork across the United States and Europe and has worked 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.
Also recorded as Tse Ko Yate · Woody Big Bow
Woodrow Wilson Big Bow
- Name
- Woody Big Bow
- Birth Name
- Woodrow Wilson Big Bow
- Born
- 29 January 1915
- Birthplace
- Carnegie, Oklahoma, US
- Died
- 10 July 1988
- Place of death
- Bethany, Oklahoma, US
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- painter
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q79360230 · wikipedia · Woody Big Bow
In this article
Biography
Biography
Big Bow was born in Carnegie, Oklahoma, 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. Big Bow worked for a time as a set painter for Western films. He also created murals for the interior of the RCA Building in New York City and the Southwest Museum of the American Indian in Los Angeles. • Illustration — 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. Big Bow died in 1988 in Bethany, Oklahoma. He is buried in the Fort Cobb Cemetery.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Woody Big Bow • Native Name — Tse Ko Yate • Birth Name — Woodrow Wilson Big Bow • Born — 29 January 1915 • Birthplace — Carnegie, Oklahoma, US • Died — 10 July 1988 • Place of death — Bethany, Oklahoma, US • Citizenship — Kiowa, American
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1914
Woodrow Wilson Big Bow born at Carnegie.
1988
Woodrow Wilson Big Bow died at Bethany.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Carnegie.
Birth place
Bethany.
Death place
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Woody Big Bow, revision 1366271259 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.King, Jeanne Snodgrass. American Indian painters; a biographical directory. New York : Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. 1968.
- 2.Lester, Patrick D. (Patrick David). The biographical directory of Native American painters. Tulsa, OK : SIR Publications; Norman, OK : Distributed by University of Oklahoma Press. 1995. 978-0-8061-9936-8.
- 3.Big Bow, Woodrow Wilson The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society OHS.
- 4.Woody Big Bow - Biography. www.askart.com.
- 5.Treescape / Woody Big Bow, January 29, 1915 - July 10, 1988, Native American; Kiowa (Artist) - Gilcrease Museum. collections.gilcrease.org.
- 6.Big Bow, Woody - Woodrow Wilson Big Bow Oklahoma Historical Society. okhistory.pastperfectonline.com.
- 7.Woody Big Bow. The Oklahoman.
References
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reference work
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Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Tse Ko Yate and Woody Big Bow. He was the child of Abel Big Bow. Other recorded relations include Big Bow.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
19,456 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Wolfgang von KempelenArtist
- Wolfgang ZelmerArtist
- Won Ju LimArtist
- Wong MayArtist
- Woody CrumboArtist
- Woody GwynArtist
- Wook-kyung ChoiArtist
- Worth RyderArtist
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