Great Northern 1958 Calendar

This appears to be Great Northern’s last calendar that featured a Winold Reiss painting. Unfortunately, the information under the pad tells us little about Spider, the subject of the painting, other than he was the son of Acting Bear; that he joined his friend Eagle Tail Feathers in participating in dances and celebrations at Indian reservations throughout the United States and Canada; and he married Narrow Shield Woman.

Click image to download a 1.8-MB PDF of this calendar.

I can’t find any information about Spider, Acting Bear, or Narrow Shield Woman on line. I did find a 1950 painting of Mortimer Eagle Tail Feather, who appears to be about the same age as Spider.


Click image to download a 407-KB PDF of the text underneath the calendar pad.

Many of Winold Reiss’ paintings are done in three layers: the background which is very flat; the subject’s clothing which is somewhat flat; and the face and hands which are very detailed. For Spider along with a few other portraits, Reiss simply left out the background and clothing, leaving just the face.


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