Gallery – Early Paintings

A 1960 Greater Tulsa magazine states, “Ingraham is one commercial artist who finds time for a hobby – painting. He has started his serious painting for personal gratification only since coming to Tulsa, and has yet to sell or display any of his work. He classifies his off-hours art as “somewhat expressionistic.” “

In August 1960, Deane displayed some of his “somewhat expressionistic” artwork on the side of a garage at 1406 South Owasso. This was Deane and Louise’s second home. Sadly, the whole block is now condominiums!

From left: Lifeguard, Still Life with Fruit & Checkers, Park Scene, Louise in Pink, Girl on Bench, Sealing the Deal, Three Nudes, Fox, Jam Session, Drillers – all circa 1960

All the titles are my own. I have no idea if Deane placed a title on any of these works.

Some paintings had Louise in front. With a bit of photo editing she was cut out, not perfectly. Blue Chevy hung on a large folding panel for many years in my parent’s bedroom. After Deane passed it was given back to the artist who allowed Deane to paint his vehicle.

Musicians, Poolside, Blue Chevy – about 1960

Let’s go back a decade. Deane was enrolled at Boise Junior College. A November 20, 1949 The Idaho Statesman article mentions the artists who submitted scenes for a 1950 calendar.

Here is Deane’s submission.

May 25, 1951 The Idaho Statesman. Deane’s painting is featured in this article.

Below, Glaciers may have been painted during his jr. college years.

Soldier is featured in an April 12, 1953 The Idaho Statesman article. A happy find! The painting is in this photograph which includes his father, Deane M. Ingraham, sitting in the middle of the group. The painting plus the other oils may have been painted over when one of his daughters was needing canvas for her art classes.

The article mentions Deane as artist for the armed forces in Alaska. These images were taken from negatives. They were likely some of the silk screening art as mentioned in the article. Pure As The Driven Snow is a Ft Rich presentation – short for Fort Richardson near the Elmendorf AFB in Alaska. They have since created a Joint Base.

Sadly, a fire in late 2012 destroyed a great deal of artwork. I did take quite a few photographs of paintings in 2003 but I did not catalogue anything at that time and a great deal of the artwork was passed over and did not get in the first photobook.

Update from Lois: Fox was a gift to Louise while Deane and Louise were still dating. Fox was in the house for many years, but now its location is unknown. The location of the others on the wall is also unknown (except for Girl on Bench).

The paintings below are dated between 1959 and 1969.

A photograph of Anne as a Toddler (1963) has been found. Sadly, the photo did not capture the upper portion of the painting! The painting perished in the fire.

Below, Deane’s family about 1969. Dorothy and Debbie, Bev, Doris, Doris again!, Hubert

Louise on the Couch with a Blue Vase. Mom worked at an antique store before marriage. The owner gave her two lamps as a gift. The lamps were reconfigured from cobalt blue hookah bottles. The image is Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar . He was the fifth Qajar king of Persia , reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907. He is often credited with the creation of the Persian constitution, which he approved of as one of his final actions as Shah. Gina acquired the lamps after Louise’s death.

The painting that follows was found on a slide. The photographer did not get all of the left side (Deane’s signature is cut). Move the slider up to see the painting without the baby’s head in it. This could possibly be of Louise and Anne; their bedframe looked like that. 1962