WILLARD STONE

- WILLARD STONE -

Cherokee, 1916-1985

Stone was born and raised in Oktaha, Oklahoma. Stone's early interest in drawing and painting was thwarted when, at the age of 13, he picked up a blasting cap he found while walking home from school, and it exploded. Stone lost the thumb and most of two fingers on his right hand. He nevertheless became an accomplished sculptor and woodcarver. He took art classes at Bacone College, where he studied under Acee Blue Eagle and Woody Crumbo. Crumbo used his influence with oilman and collector Thomas Gilcrease to further Stone's career, and in 1946 Gilcrease offered Stone an artist-in-residence position at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa. Stone worked for Gilcrease for three years. He developed a distinctive modern style influenced by Art Deco and Art Nouveau, and took on contemporary topics such as nuclear warfare as well as less stylized works inspired by nature. After leaving Gilcrease, Stone worked in Tulsa at an iron works and for Douglas Aircraft Company.