Three Days – Three Men Part 1

(July 19, 2018) Tulsa, Oklahoma

(July 20, 2018) Claremore, Oklahoma

(July 21, 2018) Bentonville, Arkansas

Two years ago, I promised myself to visit Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Never seemingly able to find a time, yet determined, I finally soloed to Northwest Arkansas by way of Oklahoma’s Green Country between the Osage Hills and the Ozarks.

In addition to Crystal Bridges, I planned to see the Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art in Tulsa, the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, the Walmart Museum in Bentonville, and a quick stop at Pea Ridge Civil War Battlefield east of Bentonville. I expected to see great art but came away more fascinated by the stories of three quite different exceptional men.

Gilcrease - I always thought of Thomas Gilcrease as just another what Texans called BOM (Big Oil Money). Gilcrease was a lot more than BOM! William Thomas Gilcrease was born in 1890 at Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana to an Irish immigrant father and a mother of Creek Indian ancestry and a member of the Osage Tribe. Soon after Thomas’ birth the Gilcrease family moved to the Creek Reservation where his father operated a cotton gin in nearby Mounds, Oklahoma.

Thomas being one-eighth Indian was enrolled as a member of the Osage Tribe. A result of the 1887 Dawes Allotment Act, in 1899 young Thomas was allotted one hundred sixty acres of land about 20 miles south of Tulsa. In 1905 the Glenn Pool oil formation was discovered, and Tom Gilcrease became a millionaire at age eighteen. Gilcrease had little formal education, however he proved to be a brilliant oilman. Unlike so many other native Americans he was not swindled out of his riches. Gilcrease would become one of the wealthiest men in Tulsa, then known as the “Oil Capitol of the World.”

Gilcrease business acumen and financial magic did not carry over to his family life. His two marriages failed, and both ended relatively quickly in divorce. Notably his second marriage was to the first Oklahoman to become Miss America (1926). Gilcrease Oil first maintained their principal office in San Antonio and later located in Tulsa. Gilcrease often traveled to Europe for business and pleasure. During his travels he became interested in art and was inspired to learn more about it and began collecting. His fortune provided him with an abundance of economic firepower and once he got the acquisition itch, he scratched intensely.

American art and American history were his dominant interests. His collection consists of painting and sculptures by primarily nineteenth and twentieth century American artists, an extensive collection of native American artists, thousands of native American artifacts including beautiful pottery, and Americana including many historical documents. In sum his collection includes nearly five hundred thousand pieces. The museum houses one of the two known hand-written copies of the Declaration of Independence. This alone is priceless.  The other resides in our National Archives in Washington, D. C. (see movie “National Treasure”.)

What distinguishes Gilcrease from other prominent collectors was his intense study of his collection. More than art appreciation, real understanding. Many people of wealth have large collections but few shared Gilcrease’s level of attachment and appreciation. The other aspect of Gilcrease that impressed me was his sponsorship of native American artists. His generosity allowed them to develop and guaranteed them a market for their works until they became established.

Mr. Gilcrease donated his entire collection and the museum real estate to the City of Tulsa. The Gilcrease Institute is operated by the University of Tulsa. In the early 1950s when the price of oil became severely low Gilcrease Oil experienced severe cash flow problems. In order to meet his financial obligation Gilcrease considered selling some of his treasured art. Fort Worth City Father, Amon Carter, offered Gilcrease over two million dollars for significant parts of the collection. Gilcrease though refused, telling Carter selling would be like deciding which of his children to part with.

The City of Tulsa came to his rescue, not wanting to lose the presence of significant and unique art in their community. To help Gilcrease get through his rough spot, the City passed a bond issue to pay the Gilcrease debt. A public bond issue to bail out a private business? Politically unbelievable! Gilcrease repaid the City from museum operations.

During my visit, on display were photographs by Blake Little of Gay Rodeo, still photographs from ’The Big Trail” (1930), John Wayne’s first credited motion picture role, several large galleries of masterworks from the Gilcrease collection, and a wide assortment of selections from the large native American collection. 

My favorite works were the John James Audubon painting of “Wild Turkey”, the massive and spectacular “Grand Canyon” by William Robinson Leigh, and the Abraham Lincoln death mask and castings of the Rail Splitter’s colossal hands. Among the native American artists, I particularly liked Woodrow Wilson Crumbo. The native American exhibits provided new curiosity and fuel for study of both the Taos Eight and Oklahoma’s Kiowa Five artists.