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“Wyoming, the Cowboy State, conjures images of wide open spaces, cattle ranches, wild mustangs and rugged men in boots and Stetsons,” says artist James Bama.“I had known Buck Norris for many years, he was a strong, quiet man who worked with his parents, owners of the oldest ranch on the North Fork of the Shoshone River west of Cody. The day I finally visited this cowboy and trapper to use him as a model, it snowed three feet. With the snow filling up the corral around him, he carried the tools of his trade: a leather saddle fitted with saddle bags, fringe-decorated bridle, coiled lariat and silver-dollar size spurs. These, the clothes on his back, and, of course, his horse, were sometimes the only possessions a cowboy of the Old West owned.”
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James Bama was born in 1926 and grew up in the Northeast. He followed his
early interest in art through New York’s specialized High School of Music and
Art and the Art Students League. As a professional, Bama has earned a
reputation for several facets of his talent. He freelanced briefly before
spending fifteen years at the respected Charles E. Cooper Studios—at the time,
the country’s top firm of illustrators—and more freelancing followed. Bama’s
activities during this period were highlighted by artwork for the New York
Giants football team, the Baseball and Football Halls of Fame, the U.S. Air
Force and The Saturday Evening Post. Fans of pop culture may know him best as
the artist who portrayed Doc Savage on sixty-two memorable book covers. Then
Bama decided it was finally time to do what he most wanted to do. He moved
west to Wyoming, where an artist “can trace the beginnings of Western history;
see the oldest weapons, saddles and guns and be close to Indian culture.” He
sold his first Western fine art painting soon after the move.
The distinctive work of James Bama combines tradition with modern realities.
In his much-acclaimed studies, Bama shows the contemporary West preserving its
traditional culture. His portraits of inhabitants of the plains and mountains
capture the true character of the West.
Today the paintings of James Bama are part of many prestigious collections.
Bama has been represented in major exhibitions throughout the West and has
been presented in one-man shows in New York City. Bantam Books published The
Western Art of James Bama in 1975 and The Art of James Bama in 1993. Jim was
inducted into the Illustrator’s Hall of Fame June 28, 2000. Through his
portraits of real people of the new West re-creating their history and
heritage, Bama pays homage to the Old West and is renowned in yet another
realm of the art world.
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