James Elliott Bama (April 28, 1926 – April 24, 2022) was an American artist known for his realistic paintings and etchings of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

subjects. Life in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

led to his comment, "Here an artist can trace the beginnings of Western history, see the first buildings, the oldest wagons, saddles and guns, and be up close to the remnants of Indian culture ... And you can stand surrounded by nature's wonders."

Biography

Born in Washington Heights,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, in 1926, he grew up copying

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...

's ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established '' Buck Rogers'' adv ...

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

. He had his first professional sale when he was 15, a drawing of

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

in the ''

New York Journal-American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

''. He graduated from New York's High School of Music and Art and entered the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, working as a mechanic,

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

painter, and physical training instructor. When discharged from the service, and back in New York City, he studied drawing and anatomy at the Art Students League. Beginning in 1951, he was an illustrator at New York's Charles E. Cooper Studios for 15 years. His first paperback cover was Nelson Nye's ''A Bullet for Billy the Kid'' (1950). Bama had a 22-year career as a successful

commercial artist Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of prom ...

, producing paperback book covers, movie posters and illustrations for such publications as '' Argosy'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' and ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

'', and his numerous clients included the New York Giants football team, the Baseball and Football Halls of Fame and the U.S. Air Force. Beginning with ''The Man of Bronze'' (1964), he did a powerful set of 62 covers for the ''

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

'' Bantam Books paperbacks, often using as a model actor Steve Holland, star of TV's ''Flash Gordon'' (1954–55). He also painted the box cover art for

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

's monster model kits, including

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

and

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. In 1964 he married Lynne Klepfer, a New York University graduate with an art history major. Two years later, in June 1966, the couple headed west as guests of artist Bob Meyers at his Circle M ranch near

Cody, Wyoming Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,066 at th ...

. Meyers had walked out on his career as a successful Manhattan illustrator with such magazines as ''

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * ...

'' and ''

'' to run his ranch and paint. After return visits in 1967, the Bamas left New York and moved, in September 1968, into a cabin on Meyers' ranch. Bama began to paint contemporary Western subjects during the daytime while doing his freelance illustrations in the evenings. He recalled, "I never came out here with the idea to be a Western artist. It just happened, and that’s the way it should be." In 1970 Bob Meyers was murdered, and his widow Helen moved from the ranch. The Bamas moved to a house on Dunn Creek, Wapiti, 20 miles outside Cody, in 1971. In May 1971, Bama connected with a New York dealer, prompting his decision to abandon illustration and put his total concentration into the creation of easel paintings. In Wapiti, James and Lynne Bama built a home and studio, moving into it when their son Ben was born in 1977. His work is collected in ''The Western Art of James Bama'' (Bantam Books, 1975) and ''The Art of James Bama'' (1993). Brian M. Kane's ''James Bama: American Realist'' (Flesk, 2006) has an introduction by

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

. Bama died on April 24, 2022, four days before his 96th birthday.

Style

Bama's art is realistic. He sometimes took advantage of his medium to use lighting techniques—such as butterfly lighting — that would not be practical in a photograph taken under ambient light.

Awards

Bama was inducted into the Illustrator’s Hall of Fame on June 28, 2000. At the

Buffalo Bill Historical Center The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the B ...

, when he was the first Honored Artist at the Buffalo Bill Art Show in 2003, Bama commented, "Everything I’ve done — the rodeo, the trappers, the mountain men — has been done around here. The fact that I’m from Cody makes this very significant to me. They’re really honoring Cody and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center." He was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall Of Fame at The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.

References

* Kelton, Elmer. ''The Art of James Bama''. Trumbull, Connecticut: Greenwich Workshop, 1993. * Kane, Brian M. ''James Bama: American Realist''. Flesk Publications, , 2006.

External links

Big Horn Galleries: James BamaJames Bama: American Realist (2006)

Entry at isfdb.org
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bama, James 1926 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists American magazine illustrators Animal artists Art Students League of New York alumni Artists of the American West People from Cody, Wyoming United States Army Air Forces soldiers Painters from New York City Military personnel from New York City The High School of Music & Art alumni Pulp fiction artists United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American male artists