to View - Western Art Collector

2015/2016
W
WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
E. Martin Hennings (1886-1956), Passing By, ca. 1924, oil on canvas, 44 x 49”. Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston, Texas; gift of the Ranger Fund, National Academy of Design / Bridgeman Images.
From A Place in the Sun: The Southwest Paintings of Walter Ufer and E. Martin Hennings at the
Denver Art Museum.
Into the Past
Exhibition highlights for the 2015-2016 season
from museums coast to coast. By John O’Hern
“R
emembrance of Things
Past” could be a theme for
Western museum exhibitions
this season, exploring forgotten and
difficult history such as the Civil War and
treaties with the American Indians. Other
exhibitions explore the effect of Westward
expansion on the environment through
paintings and photography. The work
of historical artists, from Frida Kahlo’s
photographs to the pottery of Margaret
Tafoya, and the often neglected art of the
print, are also featured. Several exhibitions
highlight collections, offering insights into
the art itself as well as the art of collecting.
Empire and Liberty: The Civil War
and the West continues at the Autry
National Center of the American West
70
in Los Angeles through January 3, 2016.
Significant artifacts, period paintings and
photographs document “how Westward
expansion repeatedly tested the meaning
of freedom and the rights of individuals.”
W. Richard West, the Autry’s president
and CEO, explains, “Drawing on new
scholarly research and rooted in the Autry
mission, Empire and Liberty explores the
complex, diverse and often untold stories
of the American West to offer a surprising
lens on the Civil War era.”
A pivotal battle of the Civil War took
place at Glorieta Pass, New Mexico,
only a few miles from Santa Fe where
Confederate soldiers briefly occupied
the Palace of the Governors. The New
Mexico History Museum’s exhibition
Fading Memories: Echoes of the Civil War
continues through February 26, 2016.
Including photographs, lithographs
and personal artifacts, “presented in a
manner that encourages contemplation,
the exhibit grounds the war in the faces
of the people who fought and of those
who waited for them to return.”
The National Museum of the American
Indian in Washington, D.C., hosts Nation
to Nation: Treaties Between the United
States and American Indian Nations
through the fall of 2018. It is divided
into five sections: “Introduction to
Treaties,” “Serious Diplomacy,” “Bad Acts,
Bad Paper,” “Great Nations Keep Their
Word,” and “The Future of Treaties.” The
museum notes, “From a young age, most
Americans learn about the Founding
Fathers, but are told very little about
equally important and influential Native
diplomats and leaders of Indian Nations.”
The exhibition contains photographs
of the Native delegates as well original
treaties, wampum belts, textiles, baskets
and peace medals.
Westward expansion and the effect
Walter Ufer (1876-1936), Her Daughter, 1917, oil on canvas, 36 x 40”. Collection of the Rockford Art Museum, Illinois. From A Place in the Sun:
The Southwest Paintings of Walter Ufer and E. Martin Hennings at the Denver Art Museum.
on the environment is explored in two
exhibitions at the National Museum of
Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. Monarchs
of the Plains will feature approximately 60
paintings and sculptures “highlighting the
diverse species inhabiting the plains from
the 1800s to the present. In the early 1800s,
millions of bison and other creatures roamed
the plains that stretch from Canada to
Mexico.” Among the artists in the exhibition
are George Catlin, John James Audubon,
Albert Bierstadt, Carl Rungius, Alexander
Proctor, William R. Leigh, and John
Clymer, as well as contemporary artists and
sculptors. The exhibition opens October 10
and continues through May 8, 2016.
A companion exhibition, Wyoming
Grasslands: Photographs by Michael
P. Berman and William S. Sutton opens
November 7 and continues through
April 24, 2016. The exhibition is a
collaboration between the Nature
Conservancy and the Draper Natural
History Museum at the Buffalo Bill
Center of the West and celebrates
Wyoming’s grasslands and open lands.
The Rockwell Museum of Western Art
in Corning, New York, also highlights
the landscape through photographs. The
Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict
featuring the work of Pete McBride,
continues through January 10, 2016.
Another photographic exhibition is In
Pursuit of the American Landscape: The
Photography of John Doddato. The artist
explains, “To be able to wander through
a land of sky and trees, water and rocks,
makes me thankful I was there. And it was
the camera that took me there.”
The C.M. Russell Museum in Great
Falls, Montana, will open Crown of the
Continent: The Wildest Rockies on October
10. It will continue through January 18,
2016. Steven Gabriel Gnam’s photographs
“explore the surprising connections
between culture, history, communities and
the great outdoors in one of the world’s
most majestic regions.” The Rockies are
often called the “Crown of the Continent”
and have been known to Native Americans
as the “The Backbone of the World.” The
museum notes, “The Crown is one of the
last fully intact ecosystems on Earth, where
no plant or animal species has become
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Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), Rio Grande, New Mexico, ca. 1919, pastel on paper, 17½ x 27¾”. Mrs. E. Martin Hennings by exchange.
From Mabel Dodge Luhan & Company: American Moderns and the West at the Harwood Museum of Art of the University of New Mexico.
extinct in recent centuries.”
The importance of photography in the life of
another artist is explored in Frida Kahlo—Her
Photos at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, October
31 through February 8, 2016. The photos were
taken by Man Ray, Martin Munkácsi, Tina
Modotti, Edward Weston, Nickolas Muray, Manuel
and Lola Álvarez Bravo, and others. Kahlo’s father
and grandfather were professional photographers.
The museum explains, “These images give visitors
an intimate view of Kahlo’s life. The exhibition
does not intend to depict a chronological
biography, but rather to exhibit parts of the
personal history of an artist, of a country and of
a period. It is a photographic collage made up of
images that allow us to discover new facets of a key
figure of the 20th century.”
The Phoenix Fridas art collective says, “Our
group is diverse in age, art styles, personalities
Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), Indian Pottery, ca.
1912, oil on canvas, 20¼ x 20¼”. The Jan T. and
Marica Vilcek Collection. © The Vilcek Foundation.
From From New York to New Mexico: Masterworks
of American Modernism from The Vilcek Foundation
Collection at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
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WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
John Mix Stanley (1814-1872), The Last of Their Race, 1857, oil on canvas, 43 x 60”. Buffalo
Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. From Painted Journeys: The Art of John Mix Stanley at
the Gilcrease Museum.
and viewpoints. But what connects us is
that we all love Frida and are inspired by
her life, work, talent and attitude!” The
group has collaborated with the museum
on the exhibition Las Favoritas de Frida:
Selections from the Heard Collection,
opening October 31 and continuing until
September 28, 2016. The Fridas selected
“items from the museum’s substantial
collection of Mexican art and provide
explanations of why they think Frida
would like the items they selected.”
Another exhibition, Oblique Views:
Archaeology, Photography, and Time opens
October 25 at the Museum of Indian Arts &
Culture in Santa Fe and continues through
May 25, 2017. Charles and Anne Morrow
Lindbergh photographed some of the
most significant archaeological sites of the
Southwest in 1929. Their work is coupled
with color photographs taken by Adriel
Heisey in 2007 and 2008.
The Booth Western Art Museum in
Cartersville, Georgia, revisits one of the
West’s most acclaimed photographers in the
exhibition Ansel Adams: before and AFTER.
The exhibition, which contains 30 prints by
Adams himself, also puts him and his work
in context with work by photographers who
influenced him, his peers and those who have
been influenced by him. It opens November
14 and continues through March 20, 2016.
Individual artist exhibitions are always
a highlight of Western museum offerings.
Continuing at the Millicent Rogers Museum
in Taos, New Mexico, through January 29,
2016, is Margaret Tafoya: Santa Clara Potter,
celebrating the traditional, polished black
pottery Tafoya made into works of art.
The Houser/Haozous Family:
Celebrating a Century continues at the
Heard Museum through April 3, 2016. It
marks the anniversary of the birth of Allan
Houser and 100 years of freedom for the
Chiricahua Apache people.
Desert Caballeros Western Museum in
Wickenburg, Arizona, presents All Things Are
Possible: The Inspired Life Work of Michael
Naranjo October 17 through February 28,
2016. The interactive exhibition will feature
more than 40 works from the Tia Collection
and will be available “for tactile exploration
by visitors of all ages and abilities.” Naranjo
lost his sight and the use of his right hand
while serving in Vietnam.
A Place in the Sun: The Southwest
Paintings of Walter Ufer and E. Martin
Hennings will be shown at the Denver Art
Museum in Colorado, beginning December
13. Ufer and Hennings were lifelong
friends and members of the Taos Society
of Artists. The museum has organized the
exhibition chronologically to highlight
“the parallels and differences between the
artists’ lives and artistic development.
Both artists gravitated toward subjects
drawn from the region’s rich American
Indian and Hispanic cultures, the serene
landscape and vibrant light of the
Southwest. Even though the artists painted
similar subjects, their artistic styles truly
Sculptor Michael Naranjo works on his piece Mountain Meadows in his studio. From All Things
Are Possible: The Inspired Life Work of Michael Naranjo at Desert Caballeros Western Museum.
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Bob Kolbrener, Portrait of Half Dome. © Bob Kolbrener, image courtesy Lumière, Atlanta. From
Ansel Adams: before and AFTER at the Booth Western Art Museum.
differentiate their work.”
Gustave Baumann went to Taos to
visit Ufer and Victor Higgins. Although
he intended only to visit, he ended up
living in Santa Fe for over 50 years.
Gustave Baumann, German Craftsman —
American Artist opens at the Indianapolis
Museum of Art in Indiana October 25 and
continues through February 14, 2016. The
museum owns over 270 prints, drawings,
watercolors and wood carvings and is
the second largest repository of his work
after the New Mexico Museum of Art. His
distinctive woodblock prints, done in the
style of the Arts and Crafts movement, are
highly sought after today.
The Harwood Museum of Art in Taos
approaches printmaking with a broader
perspective in Pressing Through Time which
continues through January 24, 2016. The
rich tradition of printmaking in Taos extends
from early representational work depicting
the people, the buildings and the landscape
to the abstractions of the late 20th and 21st
centuries. The exhibition presents early
prints by Peter Moran, Oscar Berninghaus,
Hennings, and their colleagues. “After the
flourishing of the Taos Society of Artists,”
the curators note, “others settled in Taos
who were trained in the complex techniques
of wood engraving, etching, aquatint
and lithography, as evidenced in prints
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by Joseph Imhof, Howard Cook, Barbara
Latham, Kenneth Adams, Ward Lockwood,
Gene Kloss, and Doel Reed.” In 1970, the
Tamarind Institute moved to New Mexico
and encouraged collaborations between
artists and master printers.
Reed’s aquatints will be featured in
the exhibition Doel Reed: Interludes
at the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, through March 27, 2016.
Reed was an Oklahoma artists who
retired to Taos in 1959.
The resurgence of interest in New
Mexico modernists will continue with an
exhibition at the Philbrook Museum, Cady
Wells: Ruminations. Curator Catherine
Whitney notes, “Wells settled in northern
New Mexico beginning in 1932. There, his
art took on the complex layering of a spirit
inspired by music, calligraphy and stained
glass, but traumatized by active WWII
combat, sexual intolerance and atomic
bomb experiments at Los Alamos, just 12
miles from where he lived and painted.
Such mid-century influences marked his
increasingly surrealist style with equal parts
rapture and disquietude.” The exhibition
opens April 2, 2016 and continues through
October 2, 2016.
Mabel Dodge Luhan & Company:
American Moderns and the West opens at the
Harwood Museum of Art May 22, 2016, and
continues through September 11, 2016. The
museum notes, “The exhibition will include
150 works of art and ephemera produced by
the visual, literary and performance artists
who came to Taos at Mabel’s behest. The
works of Andrew Dasburg, Marsden Hartley,
John Marin, Ansel Adams, Agnes Pelton,
and Georgia O’Keeffe will be displayed in
Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), Mystery Horse at Taos, 1978, print lithograph, 15 x 22¼”.
Gift of Romona Scholder. From Pressing Through Time at the Harwood Museum of Art.
WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
Gustave Baumann (1881-1971), Grandma Battin’s Garden, 1927. Gift of Stephen W. Fess
and Elaine Ewing Fess. From Gustave Baumann, German Craftsman — American Artist at the
Indianapolis Museum of Art.
conversation with the works of Pueblo and
Hispano artists who inspired their modernist
sensibilities.”
From New York to New Mexico:
Masterworks of American Modernism from
The Vilcek Foundation Collection continues
at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa
Fe through January 10, 2016. Many
internationally known artists with strong
connections to northern New Mexico are in
the exhibition.
Other collections also highlight the
season’s offerings. The Autry features two
collections, New Acquisitions Featuring
the Kaufman Collection and California
Impressionism: The Gardena High School
Collection.
The installation of New Acquisitions
Featuring the Kaufman Collection is unusual.
The museum explains, “Throughout the
exhibition, artworks are organized by theme
and set alongside statements drawn from
individuals, artists and historic documents
that describe aspects of experience and
identity in the American West. As these
words support, challenge or complicate the
artworks on view, when read together they
suggest that a work of art—like any form
of representation—does not always tell
the whole story.” The exhibition continues
through July 9, 2017.
Each year between 1919 and 1956,
Gardena (California) High School seniors
collaborated to select and purchase
contemporary art that was given to the
school when they graduated. The exhibition
continues through October 9, 2016.
Tales from the American West: The
Rees-Jones Collection continues through
February 21, 2016 at the Amon Carter
Museum of American Art in Fort Worth,
Texas. The museum describes this as “one
of the finest private collections of art of the
American West, spanning the 18th century
through the 1920s, including paintings,
watercolors, sculpture and photographs.
The selection…on view marks its debut
showing in a museum.”
Navajo Weavings from the Pam Parrish
Collection continues at the National Cowboy
& Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, through May 8, 2016. The
exhibition includes examples of Two Gray
Hills, Teec Nos Pos, Yei, Storm Pattern, Wide
Ruins, Ganado, and Sampler weavings by
some of the top contemporary weavers of
the late 20th century including Edith John,
Nora Bitsui, Clara Sherman, and Larry
Nathaniel, donated to the museum over the
past three years.
Painted Journeys: The Art of John Mix
Stanley opens at the Gilcrease Museum in
Tulsa, Oklahoma on October 4 and continues
through January 3, 2016. Peter Hassrick,
senior scholar and director emeritus at the
Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody,
Wyoming, which originated the exhibition,
writes, “[Stanley’s] motivation was to give
the Native Americans a face as the subjects
of fine art, unlike George Catlin and Karl
Bodmer who were driven by science and the
desire to record the moment. Without him,
we would be hard-pressed to find fine art
images of Native Americans that span the
entirety of the western United States. John
Mix Stanley was one of the most traveled
artists of his time.”
The Philbrook Museum of Art will offer
a unique perspective of a key historical
event in the exhibition First Person:
Remembering Little Bighorn. It opens
May 11, 2016, and continues through
November 20, 2016. Curator Christina E.
Burke explains, “This event is well-known
in U.S. history, but Native perspectives
on the battle are less well-known. Lakota
artists Stephen Standing Bear (ca. 18591933) and Amos Bad Heart Bull (ca. 18681913) were both present at the battle, and
recorded their experiences using traditional
pictographs drawn on cloth and paper.”
The Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis
has offered the Eiteljorg Contemporary
Art Fellowship since 1999. The 2015
recipients include four juried fellows
and one invited artist. They are: Mario
Martinez (Pascua Yaqui), Invited Artist;
Luzene Hill (Eastern Band of Cherokee);
Brenda Mallory (Cherokee); Dakaxeen
Mehner (Tlingit); and Holly Wilson
(Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma/
Cherokee). Their work will be shown
through February 14, 2016.
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WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
BOOTH WESTERN ART MUSEUM
501 N. Museum Drive • Cartersville, GA 30120 • (770) 387-1300 • www.boothmuseum.org
B
ooth Western Art
Museum, an affiliate to the
Smithsonian Institution, is a
120,000-square-foot museum
located in Cartersville, Georgia,
where guests are invited to
“See America’s Story” through
contemporary Western
artwork; a Presidential
Gallery; Civil War art gallery;
and Sagebrush Ranch, an
interactive children’s gallery.
Open since August 2003, the
Booth Museum is one of the
only museums of its kind in the
Southeast, and is the second
largest art museum in the state
of Georgia.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
13th annual Southeastern Cowboy Festival & Symposium
October 22–25
Cowboy and Western themed activities for all ages
Three Point Perspective: Dean, Elliott & Hagege
Through February 21, 2016
Featuring artists Glenn Dean, Josh Elliott, and Logan Maxwell Hagege.
Ansel Adams: before and AFTER
November 14–March 20, 2016
Opening will feature a talk by Ansel Adams’ son, Michael.
“The most exciting thing
happening at the Booth over
the next year is a major
photography exhibition opening
November 14. [Ansel Adams:
Before and After] features 106
images including 26 by Adams along with
a heavy emphasis on contemporary/living
photographers working int the West today.”
Logan Maxwell Hagege, Blue Skies, oil on linen, 16 x 16"
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—Seth Hopkins, executive director,
Booth Western Art Museum
WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
THE BRINTON MUSEUM
239 Brinton Road • P.O. Box 460 • Big Horn, WY 82833 • (307) 672-3173 • www.thebrintonmuseum.org
W
yoming’s rolling Bighorn
Mountains envelop
The Brinton Museum on the
Quarter Circle A Ranch, igniting
curiosity and exploration.
Its sweeping landscape
and surrounding mountain
range have been the muse of
treasured American artists,
from Frederic Remington to
Edward Borein to William
Gollings, and the setting for
rich cultural traditions integral
to the American Indian tribes
inhabiting this region.
The Brinton Museum
opened its new, state-of-theart Forrest E. Mars Jr. Building
on June 15. With 24,000
square feet the museum houses
an extensive 19th- and 20thcentury Western and American
Indian art collection, featuring
Remington, Borein, Charles
M. Russell, Thomas Moran,
Winold Reiss, and one of the
largest Hans Kleiber collections
in the world.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
Brinton Small Works Show
Through October 18
140 artists, with a members preview September 12, 4:30–6:30 p.m.
25th annual Holiday Show:
Hanson & Oriet On and Off the Wall
November 29–December 20
Featuring artists Julie Oriet and Ann Hanson
Clyde Aspevig at The Brinton Museum
June 5–July 31, 2016
Clyde Aspevig will exhibit new oil paintings in the
Jacomien Mars Reception Gallery.
Bighorn Rendezvous Art Show and Sale
August 5–September 5, 2016
Northwest Rendezvous Group of Artists plus seven special guest artists.
IMAGE ILLUSTRATED BY ALLAN MARDON
W.H.D. Koerner (1878–1938), The Mercy Stroke, 1930, oil, 28 x 40¼”.
This museum purchase was funded by The Brinton Museum’s National
Advisory Council, 2015.
“The Brinton Museum is an
American treasure, founded by
a loving sister on her brother’s
beautiful and historic Quarter
Circle A Ranch with his collection
of Western art and American Indian
art kept intact for posterity.”
—Kenneth L. Schuster, director and
chief curator, The Brinton Museum.
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WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
DENVER ART MUSEUM
100 W. 14th Avenue Parkway • Denver, CO 80204 • (720) 865-5000 • www.denverartmuseum.org
T
he Denver Art Museum
is one of the largest art
museums between Chicago
and the West Coast, with a
collection of more than 70,000
works of art divided between 10
permanent collections, including
African, American Indian,
Asian, European and American,
modern and contemporary,
pre-Columbian, photography,
Spanish Colonial, textile, and
Western American art.
The DAM has collected and
exhibited Western American art
for more than 50 years.
In 2013, the museum
announced a major gift of
Western American art from
Denver collector Henry Roath.
The museum also acquired an
important collection of Taos
paintings from Dr. George C.
and Catherine M. Peck.
Less than 15 years after
the department was started in
2001, it has strong holdings of
bronze sculpture and works by
the Taos Society of Artists as
well as early modernism in the
American West.
“This coming year we are placing a strong focus
on American art with exhibitions featuring
artists like Ufer and Hennings,
as well as Fritz Scholder and
Andrew and Jamie Wyeth.”
—Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan
Mayer Director, Denver Art Museum
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
A Place in the Sun: The Southwest Paintings
of Walter Ufer & E. Martin Hennings
December 13, 2015–April 24, 2016
Presents bold, large-scale paintings by Walter Ufer
and E. Martin Hennings.
10th annual Petrie Institute of
Western American Art Symposium
January 6, 2016
Will examine the careers and art of Walter Ufer
and E. Martin Hennings.
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E. Martin Hennings (1886-1956), A Friendly Encounter, ca. 1922,
oil on canvas, 45 x 50”. Denver Art Museum; The Roath Collection
by exchange; William Sr. and Dorothy Harmsen Collection by
exchange; funds from Henry Roath, Lanny and Sharon Marin, 2013
Collectors’ Choice, and The Second Decade Fund, 2014.28
WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
GILCREASE MUSEUM
1400 N. Gilcrease Museum Road • Tulsa, OK 74127 • (918) 596-2700 • www.gilcrease.utulsa.edu
T
he Thomas Gilcrease
Institute of American
History and Art, commonly
known as the Gilcrease Museum,
located in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
serves to preserve and study
American art and history.
The museum houses among
the world’s largest and most
comprehensive collections of art
and artifacts of the American
West, including an unparalleled
collection of Native American
art and material. The museum’s
Western art collection includes
works by Thomas Moran,
Frederic Remington, Joseph
Henry Sharp, and Charles M.
Russell, to name a few.
The new Helmerich Center for
American Research at Gilcrease
Museum houses the vast archival
collection that Thomas Gilcrease
amassed. The archives constitute
one of the country’s most
extensive collections of rare
books, documents, maps and
unpublished material related to
the history of American Indians
and the American West.
“Gilcrease Museum is arguably
Tulsa’s single most valuable
municipal asset, with one of
the finest art, archeological and
archival collections in the country,
if not the world….As the new executive
director at Gilcrease Museum, I’m anxious to
lead the effort to further Thomas Gilcrease’s
vision for Gilcrease Museum.”
—James Pepper Henry, executive director,
Gilcrease Museum
Kristine Taylor, Tern, bronze, ed. of 15, 9½ x 10½ x 5”
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
Native American Bolo Ties: Vintage
and Contemporary Artistry
October 4–January 3, 2016
Painted Journeys: The Art of John Mix Stanley
October 4–January 3, 2016
Collectors’ Reserve
October 25–November 8, 2015
Birds in Art
November 22–February 7, 2016
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WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
THE MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART
1550 Bandera Highway • Kerrville, TX 78028 • (830) 896-2553 • www.museumofwesternart.com
G
eorge Phippen, Frank McCarthy, and Fritz White—these
acclaimed Cowboy Artists are among the legends whose
works grace the halls of the Museum of Western Art. Now
housing more than 150 bronze sculptures and 250 paintings
in its permanent collection, this Texas Hill Country museum
enthralls visitors from around the world with its unique
architecture, special exhibitions, Western artifacts and
extensive 6,000-volume Western research library.
“The Museum of Western Art,
located in the beautiful Texas
Hill Country is a world-class
facility dedicated to excellence
in the preservation, collection
and interpretation of our nation’s
Western heritage. We invite you to spend time
here, discovering both the natural beauty of
the region and the many cultural activities
that surround us. For area information, please
contact www.kerrvilletexascvb.com.”
—Stephanie Turnham, executive director,
The Museum of Western Art
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Jack Moss, Fight for the Buffalo – Fight for their Land, watercolor, 50 x 62"
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
32nd annual Art Exhibition and Sale
Through October 17
Features more than 120 works of art in oils, bronzes, Prismacolor,
watercolor, mixed media, alabaster and copper.
WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
NATIONAL COWBOY &
WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM
1700 NE 63rd Street • Oklahoma City, OK 73111 • (405) 478-2250 • www.nationalcowboymuseum.org
T
he National Cowboy &
Western Heritage Museum
is among the nation’s foremost
institutions of Western history,
art and culture. Founded in
1955, the museum preserves
and exhibits an internationally
renowned collection of Western
and American Indian art and
artifacts, while sponsoring
educational programs and
research to stimulate interest
in the enduring legacy of the
American West.
This Oklahoma museum
has collections including
classic and contemporary
works by Frederic Remington,
Charles M. Russell, Charles
Schreyvogel, the Taos Society
of Artists, James Earle Fraser,
N.C. Wyeth, Frank Tenney
Johnson, Maynard Dixon,
William R. Leigh, Fort Marion
ledger artists, the Kiowa Five,
as well as the museum’s Prix de
West collection.
The exhibition wing houses
history galleries focusing on the
American cowboy, rodeo, Native
American culture, firearms
and the frontier military. In
addition, there is a life-size
replica of an early 20th-century
Western frontier town called
Prosperity Junction.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
Wild Western Weather
February 5–May 8, 2016
Native American Bolo Ties:
Vintageand Contemporary Artistry
February 5–May 8, 2016
This exhibition is being organized by the Heard Museum in Phoenix,
and is made possible by the Virginia M. Ullman Foundation.
“This colorful and highly
interactive exhibition will
focus upon the way the
rugged climatic conditions of
the Western United States has
influenced and shaped—and continues to
shape—our Western heritage.”
James Reynolds (1926-2010), The Good Life, ca. 1971, oil on masonite,
24 x 36”. Photos courtesy of the museum.
—Don Reeves, McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture,
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
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WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
STEAMBOAT ART MUSEUM
801 Lincoln Avenue • P.O. Box 883434 • Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
(970) 870-1755 • www.steamboatartmuseum.org
S
ince opening in December
2006, Steamboat Art
Museum has presented 21
major exhibits including the
historical paintings of E.W. “Bill”
Gollings; the work of artists
such as Clyde Aspevig, Scott
Christensen, Ken Carlson, Jim
Norton, Quang Ho, and Donna
Howell-Sickles; the American
Watercolor Society traveling
exhibit; Rod Hanna’s 50-Year
Photography Retrospective;
Jean Perry and Curtis Zabel,
The Russian Experience; the
Birds In Art traveling exhibit;
Mark Thompson egg tempera
paintings; and a John Fawcett
retrospective.
In the fall of 2015,
Steamboat Art Museum will
begin renovations on the
historic building to double
exhibition space, add an art
research library, storage and a
workshop room.
“We strive for a level of quality
in our exhibits that reflect the
mission of our museum—to
collect, preserve and present fine
art to the public, with a primary
focus on the culture and heritage of
Northwestern Colorado. We are excited about
upcoming exhibits, starting to renovate our
building to double our exhibit space and expand
our education and outreach programs.”
—Shirley Stocks, curator, Steamboat Art Museum
82
Len Chmiel, Social Security, oil, 24 x 36”
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
Len Chmiel, A Retrospective
December 4–April 9, 2016
Plein Air Painters of America
August 12–September 17, 2016
Plein air and studio paintings by members of the group.
Steamboat Plein Air Event
September 19–October 15, 2016
A week of plein air painting, exhibit and Quick Draw.
Steamboat Art Museum’s 10th Anniversary Exhibit
December 2, 2016–April 8, 2017
Past exhibiting retrospective artists. A fundraiser for the Museum to help
with renovation expenses and to expand exhibit programming.
WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
THE AMERICAN
QUARTER HORSE HALL
OF FAME & MUSEUM
2601 E. I-40 • Amarillo, TX 79104 • (806) 376-5181
www.aqha.com/museum
T
he American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame &
Museum’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history and
modern uses of the American Quarter Horse and cultivate future
enthusiasts. The museum honors the horse and human legends of
the American Quarter Horse industry and displays artwork and
exhibitions that promote and depict the Western lifestyle.
C.M. RUSSELL
MUSEUM
400 13th Street North • Great Falls, MT 59401
(406) 727-8787 • www.cmrussell.org
T
he C.M. Russell Museum is home to one of the most complete
collections of Charles M. Russell art and memorabilia in the
world. The permanent collection of more than 12,000 objects
also includes the works of such well-known artists as O.C. Seltzer,
Winold Reiss, Joseph Henry Sharp, E.E. Heikka, E.I. Couse,
Olaf Wieghorst, Henry Farny, and Frank Tenney Johnson. The
Browning Firearms Collection and The Bison: American Icon, Heart of
Plains Indian Culture round out the museum’s offerings.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
America’s Horse in Art Show & Sale
Through October 10
Crown of the Continent: The Wildest Rockies
October 10, 2015–January 18, 2016
AQHA Photography Show & Sale
October 10-November 28
More than 40 photographs of the Rocky Mountains by Steven Gnam.
Youth Art Show
December 6-January 8, 2016
The Bold and Beautiful: Trailblazing Women of AQHA
January 25-July 30, 2016
“The American Quarter Horse is
a part of our Western heritage
and history. We are fortunate
to be able to bring together
such an exceptional group
of Western artists for the eighth
annual America’s Horse in Art Show & Sale.”
– Craig Huffhines, executive vice president, The American
Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame & Museum
The Russell
February 19- March 19, 2016
Works from The Russell: An Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the C.M.
Russell Museum.
The Call of Glacier Park
Summer 2016
“We are excited to share the
news that we’ve started
conservation of the C.M.
Russell home and studio, a
national historic landmark that
serves as a pilgrimage site for artists
and art collectors.”
– Michael D. Duchemin, Ph.D., executive director,
C.M. Russell Museum
83
WESTERN
MUSEUM
PHOTO CREDIT: WAYNE NORTON
DIRECTORY
DESERT CABALLEROS
WESTERN MUSEUM
MUSEUM OF
THE BIG BEND
21 N. Frontier Street • Wickenburg AZ 85390 • (928) 684-2272
www.westernmuseum.org
D
esert Caballeros Western Museum’s world-renowned collection
of American Western fine art, historic exhibits and engaging
educational programs highlight the cultural legacy of the West.
Core to the museum collection are prized works of Maynard Dixon,
George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, Frederic Remington,
Charles M. Russell and Taos Society of Artists. Works by Bill Owen,
Lon Megargee, Alan Houser, Scott Baxter, Liz Wolf, and more offer
an enriching contemporary presentation.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
All Things Are Possible–The Inspired Life Work of
Michael Naranjo from the Collection of Tia
Through February 28, 2016
heART of the West DCWM
January 16, 2016, 6 to 9 p.m.
Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West
11th annual Invitational Exhibition and Sale
March 18-May 8, 2016
Saddles That Shaped the West
Through October 2016
“Desert Caballeros Western
Museum in Wickenburg will
highlight our unique niche of
both Western art and history
this year in ways that inspire
visitors to think about their own
definition of the West.”
—Sandra Harris, executive director,
Desert Caballeros Western Museum
84
400 N. Harrison Street • Alpine, TX 79832 • (432) 837-8143
www.museumofthebigbend.com
F
or more than 85 years, the Museum of the Big Bend has been
telling the story of the Big Bend region of West Texas. Built as
one of the Centennial Museums of Texas, the museum is located
in Alpine on the campus of Sul Ross State University. Housed
in its original native rock structure, it is through the museum’s
award-winning exhibition, Big Bend Legacy, that the museum tells
the story of the majestic and unique region of the Big Bend.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
Tom Lea Retrospective
Through March 20, 2016
30th annual Trappings of Texas Western
Art & Custom Cowboy Exhibit & Sale
Spring 2016
West Texas: A Sense of Place
Summer 2016
A Feeling of Humanity: Western Art from
the Ken Ratner Collection
Fall 2016
“As home to Trappings of
Texas, the longest running
Western art and gear exhibit
in the country, our museum is
privileged to be celebrating 30
years of honoring the cowboy and our
ranching heritage.”
—Liz Jackson, director, Museum of the Big Bend
WESTERN
MUSEUM
DIRECTORY
MUSEUM OF
NORTHERN ARIZONA
3101 N. Fort Valley Road • Flagstaff, AZ 86001 • www.musnaz.org
T
he Museum of Northern Arizona aims to inspire a sense of
love and responsibility for the beauty and diversity of the
Colorado Plateau through collecting, studying, interpreting and
preserving the region’s natural and cultural heritage.
The museum’s annual June gala and fine art auction features
work by Western landscape artists Curt Walters, Ed Mell, Cody
DeLong, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Bruce Aiken, Merrill Mahaffey,
and others. This exclusive event attracts art collectors and
museum patrons from across the country. In 2016, the Museum
will honor Curt Walters and premiere his retrospective exhibition.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
You Are On Indian Land
November 21–February 15, 2016
Portraits of Petrichor - David Christiana
March 5–May 30, 2016
Curt Walters: A Retrospective
June 26–October 23, 2016
A Grand Muse
Opens November 12, 2016
“The 2016 exhibition schedule
at the Museum of Northern
Arizona reflects our focus
on prominent contemporary
artists who have worked
historically on the Colorado Plateau,
and regional mid-career artists.”
— Alan Petersen, fine arts curator,
Museum of Northern Arizona
PHIPPEN ART MUSEUM
4701 Highway 89 North • Prescott, AZ 86301
(928) 778-1385 • www.phippenartmuseum.org
T
he Phippen Art Museum is named after Prescott, Arizona,
artist and first president of the Cowboy Artists of America,
George Phippen. Throughout the year it presents museum-quality
Western art exhibitions, educational programming and unique
art events for visitors of all ages.
The Phippen boasts 17,000 square feet of gallery space, with
4,000 square feet dedicated to studio replicas, a research library,
a multipurpose classroom and a Western heritage gallery that
features artifacts, photos, artwork and the Arizona Rancher and
Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
The Golden Age of Cowgirls
February 13–October 9, 2016
Phippen Art Museum Western Art Show & Sale
May 28-30, 2016
Hold Your Horses! 3rd annual Invitational Exhibition & Sale
July 30–October 2, 2016
“Our future plans at the
museum include continuing
to steadily grow our museum
membership and volunteer
base, as well as providing a
variety of stimulating exhibits
that provide thought-provoking experiences
and promote the art and heritage of the
American West.”
— Kim Villalpando,
executive director, Phippen Art Museum
85
WESTERN
MUSEUM
PHOTO CREDIT: WILL FRANCE
DIRECTORY
STARK MUSEUM OF ART
712 Green Avenue, Orange, TX 77630 • (409) 886-2787
www.starkmuseum.org
T
he Stark Museum of Art focuses on the stunning land,
dramatic people and diverse wildlife as depicted in American
Western art. The museum began through the vision of H.J.
Lutcher Stark. He and his wife, Nelda Childers Stark, collected the
art that would become the basis of the museum’s holdings.
Artists include frontier artists Alfred Jacob Miller, Paul Kane,
and John Mix Stanley; landscape painters Albert Bierstadt
and Thomas Moran; Wild West artists Frederic Remington
and Charles M. Russell; and 20th-century New Mexico painters
E.L. Blumenschein, W. Herbert Dunton, J.H. Sharp, Georgia
O’Keeffe, and many others. The museum has continued to grow
the collections and educational offerings, and recently began a
program of cellphone tours to provide additional interpretation.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
Wicked Plants: The Exhibit
October 3–January 2, 2016
Step into a macabre world where plants hold all the power.
Bright Beasts: Animals in Illunimated Manuscripts
Opens December 2015
View rare and treasured Medieval Books of Hours.
“With 2015 marking the 100th
anniversary of the founding
of the Taos Society of Artists,
the Stark Museum of Art will
draw from the strength of its
Taos collections. At the end of the
year, we will rotate some of the works of the
Taos artists.”
— Sarah E. Boehme, Ph.D., curator, Stark Museum of Art
86
TUCSON DESERT
ART MUSEUM
7000 E. Tanque Verde Road • Tucson, AZ 85715 • (520) 202-3888
www.tucsondart.org
T
he Tucson Desert Art Museum preserves, displays and
promotes the multi-faceted arts and cultures of the
Southwest. The museum features both permanent and special
exhibitions, which present guests with an opportunity to
“visualize history through art.” The permanent collection contains
a premier collection of Native American pre-1940s textiles.
In addition to this collection of optical art and chiefs blankets,
the museum highlights rare original works from early classic
artists who recorded the grandeur of the West.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
2015 Women Artists of the West
45th annual National Exhibition
November 3–28
The Horse, Of Course!
November 14–January 3, 2016
Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942 – 1964
December 5–February 14, 2016
“We strive to be the catalyst for
our guests’ insatiable thirst for
learning about the diversity,
heritage and arts of our
magnificent southwestern region.
Our museum store, educational
programming and artist workshops are of
utmost importance to our goals.”
— Rhonda Smith, director, Tucson Desert Art Museum
WESTERN
MUSEUM
PHOTO CREDIT: BILL TIMMERMAN.
COURTESY STUDIO MA, ARCHITECT
DIRECTORY
WESTERN SPIRIT:
SCOTTSDALE’S MUSEUM
OF THE WEST
3830 N. Marshall Way • Scottsdale, AZ 85251 • (480) 686-9539
www.scottsdalemuseumwest.org
I
n January 2015, the American West’s newest cultural
attraction celebrated its opening. Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s
Museum of the West focuses upon the stories of the American
West, as told through its art and artifacts, historic re-enactments,
Western film showings, poetry readings, informative video
kiosks, inspirational film Spirit Is, speakers and special events.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
A Salute to Cowboy Artists of America and a Patron: 50
Years of Amazing Contributions to the American West
November 7–May 31, 2016
This 50th anniversary exhibition pays tribute to the 77 CAA artists
and the late Eddie Basha.
Inspirational Journey: The Story of Lewis and Clark
Featuring the Artwork of Charles Fritz
Through October 31, 2016
“As the storytellers of
the American West, we
feature regularly changing
exhibitions, entertaining
events, and engaging
activities that bring to life the
unique stories of the people, places and
events that embody our Western heritage
and that play a role in shaping its future.”
—Michael J. Fox, director and CEO, Western Spirit:
Scottsdale’s Museum of the West
WOOLAROC MUSEUM &
WILDLIFE PRESERVE
1925 Woolaroc Ranch Road • Bartlesville, OK 74003
(918) 336-0307 • www.woolaroc.org
W
oolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve is “a place like no
other in the world,” located on 3,700 acres in the Osage
Hills of Oklahoma. On the main campus is a sandstone cathedral,
a 50,000-square-foot museum that houses a southwest art
collection described by Christie’s of New York as “one of the finest
in the world.” The museum features the art of Remington, Russell,
Fechin, Sharp, Johnson, Leigh and many others, and the walls
are covered with first, second and third phase chief blankets and
bronzes that catch the eye.
Major Upcoming Exhibitions
The Best of the Best
October 3-December 31
Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist
July 1-September 30, 2016
“On your 2-mile drive to the
main campus, you will wait
for buffalo to cross the road
while you watch longhorns,
deer, scotch highland cattle and
water buffalo enjoying the tall native
grasses…to me it is a journey back in time, to
a more simple time, it is truly as if time has
stood still and allowed us to return to a time
long past, but a place that to Frank Phillips
was always ‘home.’”
—Bob Fraser, CEO, Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve
87