Stark Museum of Art
Orange, TX
409-883-6661
http://www.starkmuseum.org/
Spring Acquisitions at
Stark Museum of Art
With one of the largest collections of
its kind in the nation, the Stark Museum of Art offers the public a variety
of changing exhibitions throughout the year. Often included in these shows
are recently acquired works, such as the painting by Frederic Remington
entitled "Bullets Kicked Up," which was installed in Gallery 2
this month. The Stark Museum of Art houses a large and varied inventory
of paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, books, and letters by Remington,
who was one of the highest paid illustrators of his day and perhaps more
than any other artist universally identified with the settlement of the
American West. Still the best known of all of the Western artists, he continues
to personify for millions of Americans that place and period known as the
"Old West" in our nation's history. (left: Frederic Remington,
Bullets Kicked Up the Dust, 1902, oil on canvas, grisaille, 27 x 49
inches, Stark Museum of Art, 31.10/6)
"Bullets Kicked Up", reproduced as a book illustration
in 1902, depicts U. S. Army riflemen involved in combat on the Southwestern
frontier. The soldiers advance in formation toward the viewer to engage
an opposing force, which is not otherwise pictured. The subject is one of
three paintings and six sculptures by Remington currently on exhibit at
the Stark Museum of Art.
Of
an earlier era is another recent acquisition entitled "Return of the
Hunting Party" by John Mix Stanley, a painter who was active on the
American frontier during the first half of the 19th century. Stanley traveled
more widely in the West than almost any of his contemporaries. The greater
part of his Western work was destroyed during his lifetime, and he spent
several years recreating his lost collection. One of the largest surviving
representations of Stanley's work is to be found at the Stark Museum of
Art. "Return of the Hunting Party" may be viewed in Gallery 3
with other important paintings by this artist. (left: John Mix Stanley,
Return of the Hunting Party, 1855, oil on canvas, 28 1/8 x 40 inches,
Stark Museum of Art, 31.23/18)
Also
recently installed in Gallery 3 is a painting by Jules Tavernier, one of
the lesser known artists of the American West. Arriving in the United States
from France in the 1850s, Tavernier quickly found work as an illustrator
in New York City. With another artist-compatriot, he traveled on assignment
for Harper's Magazine to California in the 1870s. Eventually he continued
westward to Hawaii, where he made a name for himself as a landscape and
portrait painter. (left: ules Tavernier, White Man's Weapon,
1880, oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches, Stark Museum of Art, 31.243/1)
Tavernier's painting on view at the Stark Museum of Art
is entitled "White Man's Weapon." Painted in 1880, it presents
the standing figure of a Plains Indian man examining a new rifle, which
he has probably received in trade. A pile of older, discarded native weapons
is pictured at left. The background at right shows a distant view of the
man's village against a backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. In keeping with
the popular sentiment of his time, Tavernier's painting incorporates a romantic
view of the abrupt and irrevocable changes that occurred in the conflict
between cultures on the 19th century Western frontier.
Among
the contemporary works acquired by the Stark Museum of Art this year is
another bronze by Apache sculptor Allan Houser entitled "Acorn Harvest."
Describing the tall, sweeping figure of a woman carrying a basket, it the
second piece by Houser to have been added to the Stark collection. It now
stands in Gallery 1 with other contemporary and historical works representing
the life and culture of the American Southwest. (left: Allan Houser,
Acorn Harvest, c. 1980, bronze, 37 x 14 x 18 inches, Stark Museum
of Art, 21.32/2)
Also among the current offerings at the Stark Museum of
Art are two new posters in the Gallery Shop. Both posters reproduce paintings
in the museum's permanent collection which are also currently exhibited
in the galleries. "The Outpost," by William Herbert "Buck"Dunton,
a moonlit scene depicting a solitary horse and rider, was installed in Gallery
2 only this month, while Albert Bierstadt's large canvas, "Yosemite
Valley," has been a popular feature of the exhibits in Gallery 3 for
several years. Acquired in the same year that the Stark Museum of Art opened
to the public, Bierstadt's painting has commanded the attention of thousands
of visitors to the Stark galleries. After repeated inquiries and requests,
it is now available in reproduction.
Read more about the Stark
Museum of Art in Resource Library Magazine
For further biographical information on selected artists
cited above please see America's Distinguished
Artists, a national registry of historic artists.
Please click on thumbnail images bordered by a red line
to see enlargements.
rev. 1/15/11
Search Resource
Library for thousands of articles and essays on American art.
Copyright 2011 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights
reserved.
With one of the largest collections of
its kind in the nation, the Stark Museum of Art offers the public a variety
of changing exhibitions throughout the year. Often included in these shows
are recently acquired works, such as the painting by Frederic Remington
entitled "Bullets Kicked Up," which was installed in Gallery 2
this month. The Stark Museum of Art houses a large and varied inventory
of paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, books, and letters by Remington,
who was one of the highest paid illustrators of his day and perhaps more
than any other artist universally identified with the settlement of the
American West. Still the best known of all of the Western artists, he continues
to personify for millions of Americans that place and period known as the
"Old West" in our nation's history. (left: Frederic Remington,
Bullets Kicked Up the Dust, 1902, oil on canvas, grisaille, 27 x 49
inches, Stark Museum of Art, 31.10/6)
