Jerome Richard Tiger (July 8, 1941 – August 13, 1967) was a

Muscogee Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

.Jerome Tiger (1941–1967)

Mid-America All Indian Center
(accessed May 25, 2010). Tiger produced hundreds of paintings from 1962 until his death in 1967. A fullblood

Muscogee Creek The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsSeminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

, Tiger's style is said to be a combination of "spiritual vision, humane understanding, and technical virtuosity" but with traditional subject matter and composition. His paintings first gained recognition at the

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his ...

Early life

Born in

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as p ...

on July 8, 1941, Tiger attended public schools in

Eufaula, Oklahoma Eufaula is a city in and the county seat of McIntosh County, Oklahoma, McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,813 at the 2010 census, an increase of 6.6 percent from 2,639 in 2000. Eufaula is in the southern part of the co ...

and

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the 13th-largest city in Oklahoma and is the county seat of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of ...

.Hunt, Dave C.,
Tiger, Jerome Richard (1941–1967)
,"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
'' (accessed May 25, 2010). English was not his first language. He was a citizen of the

and was also of

descent. Dropping out of high school at the age of 16, Tiger joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and served in the Naval Reserve from 1958 to 1960. He also worked as a laborer and prize fighter. He studied at the Cleveland Engineering Institute in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, but dropped out after one year. Tiger married Peggy Richmond and they had three children.

Artistic career

In 1962, a friend encouraged Tiger to submit his paintings to the American Indian Artists Annual at the Philbrook Museum of Art in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. He began to produce a prolific number of paintings over the next several years, winning numerous awards. In 1966, the Philbrook Museum of Art displayed a solo exhibit of Tiger's art. During this time, he lived in

.Tiger, Jerome RichardNative Arts of America
(accessed May 25, 2010). Tiger was compared to

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

and

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

because of his ability to draw an object or person after a short glance. He worked in oil, watercolor, tempera, casein, pencil, and pen and ink.

Death and legacy

Tiger died from a handgun accident at the age of 26. In the early hours of August 13, 1967, after a night of shooting at fence posts with friends, a bullet discharged accidentally from his . 22-caliber handgun, killing him instantly and ending his promising career. His art can be found at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Philbrook and

Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gr ...

s in

, the OSU Museum of Art in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the

Five Civilized Tribes Museum The Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma, showcases the art, history, and culture of the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes": the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole tribes. Housed in the historic Union Indi ...

, the

Woolaroc Museum Woolaroc is a museum and wildlife preserve located in the Osage Hills of Northeastern Oklahoma on Oklahoma State Highway 123 about southwest of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and north of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Woolaroc was established in 1925 as the ra ...

near

Bartlesville, Oklahoma Bartlesville is a city mostly in Washington County and Osage County, Oklahoma. The population was 37,290 at the 2020 census. Bartlesville is north of Tulsa and south of the Kansas border. It is the county seat of Washington County. The Cane ...

, the

Museum of New Mexico The Museum of New Mexico is a collection of museums, historic sites, and archaeological services governed by the State of New Mexico. It currently consists of six divisions: the Palace of the Governors state history museum, the New Mexico Museum o ...

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, the

Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Sm ...

and the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

. Jerome's brother Johnny Tiger, Jr. and daughter Dana Tiger are successful artists. His son Chris, who was a budding artist, was killed in 1990. Jerome's other daughter, Lisa Tiger, is a prominent AIDS educator and activist as well as a motivational speaker.
''Lisa Tiger HIV/AIDS Educator'' (retrieved May 26, 2010) In addition to his immediate family, many of Tiger's relatives were also artists, including Edmond Joshua, Jr. (1936–2005) and his brother Lee Roy Joshua (died 2001). Both were primarily painters working in oil, acrylic, watercolor and other media, and Edmond also worked in sculpture.

References

External links

Official website
maintained by Dana Tiger
Jerome Tiger (1941–1967)
Mid-America All Indian Center

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiger, Jerome 1941 births 1967 deaths People from Tahlequah, Oklahoma Native American painters Painters from Oklahoma American people of Seminole descent Accidental deaths in Oklahoma Deaths by firearm in Oklahoma United States Navy sailors United States Navy reservists Firearm accident victims in the United States Native American military personnel Muscogee (Creek) Nation people Muscogee male artists Muscogee artists

Early life

Artistic career

Death and legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links