James Bama

James Bama (1926, 2012) was an American realist painter best known for his iconic paperback cover illustrations for Bantam Books' Doc Savage series and his later Western and Native American subjects painted from life in Wyoming. Trained at the Art Students League of New York, he achieved great success as a commercial illustrator before retiring to Wapiti, Wyoming, where he devoted himself to fine art portraiture of cowboys, rodeo performers, and Plains Indian peoples. His meticulous photorealistic style and dramatic lighting earned him a devoted following among collectors of American Western art.