Senate Dedicates Portrait of Artist Charles Banks Wilson | Art

Over the years, Charles Banks Wilson has painted numerous works for the Legislature of Oklahoma and he was honored Wednesday when his portrait was added to the historical collection of the Capitol. The portrait, by fellow Oklahoma artist Mike Wimmer, was sponsored by Howard and Billie Barnett and controlled by the State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc.

"The state Capitol is not the tourist attraction it is beautiful, without Charles many extraordinary pieces of art. His work has transformed the Capitol and basically started the trend to beautify the building," said Charles Ford, president of the fund ."As an artist painter, printmaker, teacher, lecturer, historian and magazines and books, his accomplishments are many and we were so happy to be able to honor him and his contributions to our state."

Wilson has spent much of his career in documentary portraits of Oklahoma. Born in Arkansas in 1918 and raised in Miami, Oklahoma, Wilson was accepted at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1936 to study painting, water color, and lithography.

He served as an apprentice draftsman in the Chicago Tribune, and contributed to a portfolio for the Art Association of America. During WWII, he returned to Oklahoma and began teaching classes at Northeastern A&M College, where he established the art department and served as its head for 15 years.

From 1963 to 1968, Wilson worked for the Oklahoma Legislature producing life-size portraits for the Capitol rotunda of Cherokee linguist Sequoyah, humorist Will Rogers, athlete Jim Thorpe, and Senator Robert S. Kerr. Since then he has completed a number of other works at the Capitol including a portrait of folk singer Woody Guthrie.

Fellow artist Mike Wimmer said he first learned about Wilson on a high school field trip to the state Capitol nearly 40 years ago. Wilson was the only realist artist in the state at the time, and his work had a major impact on the young budding artist who later mirrored his art after Wilson’s and even pursued a career as an illustrator like him.

“Charles Wilson is one of the state’s masters of art, and I was extremely honored to be asked to do his portrait,” said Wimmer. “My career has come full circle. If someone would have told me on that field trip that I’d have art in the Capitol some day and, even more, that I’d be asked to paint my mentor’s portrait, I wouldn’t have believed it. This is truly the biggest honor of my life.

The Lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson:

The Lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson:

The lithographs of Charles Banks Wilson

Prints depict Indians, Indian life and culture, miners, cowboys, ranch life, and Western landscapes, and are accompanied by a brief profile of the artist

Charles Banks Wilson

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An Oklahoma portrait, conversations with the artist Charles Banks Wilson

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