Western Art section of the Denver Art Museum

[Green River Powell aka RonC]

My wife, Jane, and I went to the Denver Art Museum on Saturday. For almost 43 years, this fine woman has been trying to inculcate into me some level of culture, and has failed miserably. However, my eyes and heart were enlightened when we went to the 7th floor that held the Western Art section. Remington, Russell, Bierstadt, Catlin, Moran and plenty more! I could have stayed on that one floor all day.

There was a sculpture of an Indian Warrior with a spear located near a window. A sign pointed out the window to a large statue of an Indian Warrior with a spear in Civic Center Park in Denver. Turns out that the Governor back in the early 1900s was motivated to commission that statue in the park by the small sculpture. The photo of the small sculture didn't come out well, but here is the outdoor statue, shot through a dirty museum window:


What I didn't know is that Bierstadt didn't haul his painting supplies into the Rocky Mountains to paint. He simply would take some photos, write some notes, and go back East to do the painting. As a result, none of his paintings are of real landscapes, but are based on the photos and his notes combined with his imagination. So, the Bierstadt print I have in my living room turns out to be more impressionistic than realistic. I am getting edumacated!

Because of SASS, I started looking closely at the guns and holsters in the paintings and sculptures. Some lacked the detail to judge if they were representative of the time period. Some were downright imaginative. Some were rendered correctly for the time and place. There was one statue representing pioneers with a woman on a horse, holding a baby, and a "mountain man" carrying a Pennsylvania or Kentucky or Virginia rifle. His powder horn was so exaggerated in size, relative to the man, I started giggling. I explained to Jane that such a large powder horn must have held about 20 lbs of powder. It was HUGE. I guess you call that "artistic License."

Jim Bridger by Russell:


Bronco Buster, well known by Remington. This is one of 64 of the originals:

They had a Chinese made copy just to show what bogus versions exist. It was hilarious.

Confession: I am an unreformed, compulsive banjo player (5-string Bluegrass). So, this painting caught my eye:


It was a terrific experience!
Ron

[Mean Bob Mean]

Very nice.  Would love to get out there, thanks for the writeup.

Sincerely,

Bob

[GunClick Rick]

Always love your adventures   Here's a statue that used to be at our local park opposite the original End of the Trail that is now in Oklahoma.This one was called The Pioneer,it fell in the earthquake of 1983 as did the EOT,why they never restored this one no one knows all original Visalians would love to have it back..It is rumored that pieces of it are scattered here and there somewhere in the county,i'll have to look up who the artist was..

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[Trailrider]

Of the 19th to early 20th Century Western artists, it is hard to beat Charlie Russell. Although several of these other artists travelled in the West, Russell actually lived it. Granted, he didn't go out to a particular spot that is shown in some of his painting; he painted from memory. But when I look at some of the prints I have, the only difference between the scenery and the way it was (at least in the 1960's), is the presence of his cowboy characters...and the lack of a Minuteman missile site in the painting that is there today! You see, I rode that same country back in the '60's. Only my "steed" had wheels and a blue paint job.