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William "Fire Bear" Standing
Assiniboine artist of the Big Sky Country  (1904 – 1951)

Picture
This self-taught artist was born on the remote Fort Peck Reservation in 1904.  He became well known in Montana but less so beyond, since he lived in the Big Empty and lacked the contacts for national recognition.  Standing admired Charlie Russell and his work often reflects Russell’s “Dreamtime Montana”, wistfully depicting the Big Sky’s journey from old-time buffalo days into the industrialized 20th century.  He also sometimes focused a humorous but caustic eye on the reservation problems of his day.  Quite versatile, Standing created paintings, sketches, postcards, pen and inks and even cartoons.  Scores of his scrupulously accurate pen and inks illustrate "Land of Nakoda", the well-regarded Federal Writers Project account of Assiniboine history and old way of life.

Fire Bear died as his talent was reaching a new maturity, killed in a late night car crash near Zortman.  Standing’s work has been praised by Western art authority John Ewers of the Smithsonian Institution… collected by fabled Mint Saloon owner Sid Willis and many others… and exhibited in Washington D.C., Paris and elsewhere.  Today it is found in private and public collections around the West.

A full-blood Assiniboine, Standing preferred his Indian name of Fire Bear.  But he was also an enterprising businessman who signed his paintings as the white man called him, “William Standing”.  He once explained he didn’t mind doing that -- if it made people buy more of them.



William Standing "The Travois" 10x17 inches; oil $5,500
William Standing "Mounted Chief" 16x14 inches; Oil $5,500
William Standing "Moving Camp" 11x19 inches; Oil-SOLD
William Standing "Raiding Party" 20x30 inches; Oil - SOLD
William Standing "Head Over Heals" 16x12 inches; Oil -SOLD
William Standing "Bison Herd" 16x20 inches; Oil - SOLD
William Standing "Wild Horses" 16x21.5 inches; Oil $6,000 SOLD
William Standing "Gate to the West" 12x18 inches; Oil - SOLD
William Standing "Buffalo Hunt" 14x18 inches; oil SOLD
William Standing "The Challenge" 12x18 inches; Oil - SOLD
William Standing "Log Cabin" 12x18 inches; oil SOLD
William Standing "Bucking Bronc" 20x16 inches; oil SOLD
William Standing "Montana Homestead" 16x20 inches; oil SOLD
Coeur d'Alene Galleries
213 Sherman Avenue
Coeur d'Alene, ID  83814
(208) 667-7732
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Hours of Operation
Tuesday - Frid
ay:  10am - 5pm
Saturday: 10am - 6pm
Sunday & Monday:  By Appointment
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  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact
  • Artists
  • New Works
  • MBTL 2022
  • Estate Collections
  • Events
  • Sell Your Art
  • Join Our Email List
  • Denise Gilroy