Description:
Watercolor on paper, Inscribed l.r.: Tsotoke 2-1-29, Stamped u.r.: PLANCHE 34
Excerpt from American Indian Painters, Vol. 1, pp. 18-19: Dressed in his Indian finery, with his war paint on, Tsa-To-Ke looked formidable enough to send icy chills down the spine of Pale Faces. His lean frame, piercing eyes and aesthetic nose were complemented by the majesty of the war bonnet. Still, as is often the case with Indians, the fierce exterior concealed a gentle nature. Tsa-To-Ke could not find it in his heart to even mildly reprove his little daughter, Peggy, when she counted coup with his watercolors. For Martha, his wife, Peggy, painting and music gave meaning to his life. Music especially was the core of his being; it animated his painting with a subtle sense of rhythm and harmony. Tsa-To-Ke loved to sing. For many years he was chief singer at Kiowa dances. He knew all the old songs of the tribe. No one else could bring out their color, their fire, their mystic qualities, their pathos, or their roguishness as he. The world is the loser because his renderings of martial hymns, lullabies, and ballads have not been recorded. He collected the songs of other tribes also, and found great fun in them. Tsa-To-Ke, a Kiowa, was born in Oklahoma near Saddle Mountain, where he is buried. There was a proud and aristocratic tradition in his family. Tsa-To-Ke had attended Bacone College for a short time. He was married and made an attempt at farming when his chance came to do the thing he especially enjoyed doing: paint. He worked hard at his art, responding with all his spirit to the sympathy he found in his teachers. There was a sense of ecstasy in his creations. He took the keenest delight in his work. He painted the things he knew of first hand, the rituals, the games of his people. Then, he wanted to bring back the almost forgotten past and he began a study of the history of all Indian peoples in order to acquire authentic documentation. Tsa-To-Ke painted a mural for the auditorium of the University of Oklahoma. He was the principal artist for the Indian mural in the Historical Building at Oklahoma City, and he prepared sketches for the Federal Building in Anadarko. His watercolors are in many private and public collections. He exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad. He is well represented in the volume, "Kiowa Art". There was always something in him detached and profoundly spiritual. It was as if obscurely knowing that his days here were numbered, he already walked in the company of the gods and heard the music of the spheres. This quality is felt in all his work and he ranks as one of the greatest Indian artists. The paintings of Tsa-To-Ke included in this volume are representative of his art at the height of his career.
The Kiowas and Cheyennes were not permanent enemies. Occasionally there was between them a pow-wow. This friendly get-together around the peace pipe (see "Kiowas and Cheyennes Smoking Peace Pipe") represents Tsa-To-Ke's bold attack of a problem and his ability to reduce it to its bare essentials without fussing with minor details. It is an arrangement of a few lines and colors of blankets, feathers, and faces. The net effect is an air of calm mystery or secrecy contained within the group. Part of this painting was adapted as a colophon by the University of Oklahoma Press.