Description:
Watercolor on Paper. Signed l.r.: McCombs, Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 7.
From: American Indian Painters, Vol. 1, p. 12: The eastern half of Oklahoma was the old Indian Territory. It is a beautiful country of wooded hills and valleys, sparkling streams and bubbling springs. To this land, eastern and southern tribes like the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Seminoles, Kickapoos, Shawnees, Delawares and Creeks were forcibly moved in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. It was to be their permanent abode. There they were to be permitted to remain undisturbed. There they formed their civil governments, built their capitals, organized their schools and churches, and published books and newspapers. Indian Territory had a printing press before Minnesota. There they established independent Indian nations, recognized by Washington; but white infiltration could not be prevented. The two races have intermarried and the Indian nationals have become citizens of the United States. Many of our first families belong to these great tribes. From them have come United States senators, educators, novelists, industrialists, and people distinguished in many fields. Solomon McCombs is Creek, Cherokee and Irish, consequently a typical eastern Oklahoman. A few years ago it was my pleasure to dedicate the Art Building at Bacone College. It is named McCombs Hall in honor of his grandfather. Solomon was born in 1913 and grew up on a ranch in eastern Oklahoma. He went to Bacone College and had art instruction with Acee Blue Eagle. Solomon did much painting at Bacone College and shortly after leaving school. His work was widely exhibited. His "Creek Indian Ceremonial Dance" was with a travelling exhibit sponsored by the American Association of University Women, and "The Creek Warrior's Parade" was in another travelling exhibition under the patronage of the WPA art program, Washington. His mural designs were on exhibition at the Canadian Artists' Conference at Queens University, Kingston, Canada, in 1940. He has some murals to his credit. The best known is perhaps the one at Eufaula Post Office. Solomon is especially interested in the Creeks. He has done considerable research on their history and most of his paintings are of this tribe. "Creek Indians Going to Meeting" portrays the Creeks in the dress they wore at the time when they were forcibly moved into Oklahoma, over one hundred years ago. The eastern Indians did not then wear the "typical" dress of buckskin and feathers. (Collection University of Oklahoma).