Nebraska Art History

Nebraska Art History

with an emphasis on representational art

Introduction

This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "Nebraska Art History." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to the articles and essays.

Following the links to Resource Library articles and essays are a listing of museums in the state which have provided materials to Resource Library for this or any other topic.

Listed after museums are links to online resources outside the TFAO website. Following these resources is information about offline resources including DVDs, paper-printed books, journals and articles. Our goal is to present complete knowledge relating to this section of Topics in American Art.

We recommend that researchers always search within Resource Library for additional material. Please see TFAO's page How to research topics not listed for more information.

(above: George Catlin, "Smoking Horses," a Curious Custom of the Sauk and Fox, c. 1835-36, oil on canvas, 19.6 x 27.5 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Texts contained in Resource Library by named authors listed by author name in alphabetical order:

Depression Legacy: Nebraska's Post Office Art by Elizabeth Anderson

Early Nebraska Women Artists, 1880-1950 by Sharon L.Kennedy

Augustus Dunbier, a 2008 essay by Lonnie and Roger Dunbier

A Journey Through the Nebraska Region in 1833 and 1834: From the Diaries of Prince Maximilian of Wied Translated by William J. Orr, Edited by William J. Orr and Joseph C. Porter [Introduction]

The Nebraska FERA Art Exhibit by Ernest F. Witte

(above: Karl Bodmer, The Buffalo Hunt, c. 1832-1837, gouache, watercolor, and ink on paper, 15 5/16 x 26 1/2 inches, Liveauctioneers.com. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Articles contained in Resource Library without named authors

Resource Library does not contain additional articles or essays dedicated specifically to Nebraska art. As of April, 2015 Resource Library contains 335 pages including the state's name.

(above: Robert Henri, Mary Fanton Roberts, 1917, oil on canvas, 32 x 26 inches, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bequest of Mary Fanton Roberts, 1956. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Museums and other non-profit sources of Resource Library articles and essays:

Please click on the name of each source to view articles and essays related to that source:

Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art

Great Plains Art Collection - University of Nebraska

International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska--Lincoln

Joslyn Art Museum

Museum of Nebraska Art

Nebraska State Historical Society

Sheldon Museum of Art

(above: Kady Faulkner, End of the Line (mural study, Valentine, Nebraska Post Office), c. 1939, 16.1 x 30 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Other online information:

Art and Artists in Nebraska was a 1982 exhibit at the Sheldon Museum of Art. Viewers may download the exhibition catalog. Accessed 1/17

Art in Nebraska from Nebraska State Historical Society. Accessed August, 2015.

Debra Joy Groesser: Yes, This is Nebraska is a 2021 exhibit at the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art which says: "Debra Joy Groesser will present one of her newest collections, "Yes, This is Nebraska" as a solo exhibition at Bone Creek." Accessed 2/22

Depression Era Quilts in Nebraska is an online exhibition of quilts from Nebraska museums, from Nebraska State Historical Society. Accessed August, 2015.

Ernest Ochsner Retrospective is a 2019 exhibit at the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art which says: "Ernest Ochsner has been painting the vivid green fields around Aurora, Nebr. for decades as he has found constant inspiration and renewal from the change of life's seasons." Also see website of artist. Accessed 8/20

For the People: Nebraska's New Deal Art is an online exhibition of works by Nebraska artists, produced while they were employed by the Civil Works Administration in 1933 - 34, from Nebraska State Historical Society. Accessed August, 2015.

From Particles to Planets: Exploring the Physical in Art was a 2008-09 exhibit at the Sheldon Museum of Art which says: "It is clear that the physical is a primary element of art, but that statement does not encompass the multitude of ways the physical may be expressed. From antiquity, artists have used their art to encapsulate and express the world, or to change, invent and portray the physical to express their view of reality....Line, form, color, texture and composition produce a visual experience of a subject that delineates and explicates the physical.The image created is ordered or disordered; harmonious or dissonant but inherent in art is a message from the artist's mind communicated physically." Viewers may download the exhibition catalog. Accessed 1/17

Groundwork is a 2019 exhibit at the Lux Center for Arts which says: "Owen Buffington is a mixed-media artist whose work explores the intersection of geography and the visual arts -- in particular the role drawing plays in shaping how we describe, define and organize everyday spaces. Drawing from the visual language of maps, blueprints, plans and diagrams, he creates a personal geography of the places around him that privileges the messiness of lived experience over the tidiness of idealized space." Also see artist's website. Accessed 7/19

Hal Holoun: Revisiting the Sublime Landscape is a 2016 exhibit at the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art which says: "Renowned Nebraska artist Hal Holoun has been painting the local landscape since 1981." Also see 5/5/17 Omaha.com article. Accessed 10/18

A Harmony of the Arts: The Nebraska State Capitol, By Frederick C. Luebke. Published 1990 by U of Nebraska Press. 122 pages. ISBN:0803228872 - from Google Books. Accessed August, 2015.

John Robert Weaver: American Artist was a 2005-06 exhibit at the Sheldon Museum of Art which says: "One of Nebraska's most celebrated artists, John Robert Weaver is the subject of this retrospective exhibition documenting his long and prolific career, fittingly on the occasion of his 70th birthday." Viewers may download the exhibition catalog. Accessed 1/17

Louise Bereuter: Grain Elevators is a 2020 exhibit at the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art which says: "These paintings were made when she and her husband, a former state politician, were living north of Cedar Bluffs." Accessed 4/21

Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) has posted on its website biographies of collection artists. Also posted are many pages containing links to in-depth biographies of other Nebraska artists. Names of "other" artists shown in blue have had biographies researched, written and posted online. MONA intends to add many more biographies as they are processed. Special attention is being paid to historic women artists. Accessed 11/17

Native American Imagery in the Nebraska State Capitol - from Karin Dalziel. Accessed August, 2015.

Nebraska (sampling of artists and works connected to state) from askArt. Accessed August, 2015.

Nebraska Art Today: A Centennial Invitational Exhibition was a 2012 exhibit at the Sheldon Museum of Art which says: "Anniversaries make suitable opportunities for summing up - appraising past progress and looking forward to a better future. Hence, in Nebraska's 100th year as one of the United States of America, it is appropriate that we trace activity in the arts during pioneer days and the period of expansion, pausing perhaps to offer congratulations for past accomplishments or to wish that achievement had been higher." Viewers may download the exhibition catalog. Accessed 1/17

Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers, from International Quilt Study Center & Museum. Accessed August, 2015.

Nebraska Quilts: A Patchwork History is an online exhibition of twelve quilts spanning a century of Nebraska history, dating from the 1840s through the 1940s, from Nebraska State Historical Society. Accessed August, 2015.

Nebraska State Capitol Integrated Art Program from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015

On the Homestead with Judy Thompson is a 2023 exhibit at the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art which says: "Lent by the Homestead National Monument of Beatrice, Nebr., Bone Creek Museum presents Judy Thompson's Homestead Series." Accessed 6/24

Quilts A to Z is an online exhibition is of quilts from the collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society and the International Quilt Study Center, from Nebraska State Historical Society. Accessed August, 2015.

Patchwork Lives is an online exhibition celebrating the legacy of frontier quiltmakers, from Nebraska State Historical Society. Accessed August, 2015.

Regarding Nebraska by Elizabeth Ingraham is a 2017 exhibit at the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska--Lincoln which says: "The work shown here is the result of more than 9000 miles of travel across Nebraska for her project, Mapping Nebraska - a stitched, drawn and digitally-imaged cartography of the state (physical and psychological) where she resides." To read more after exhibit closes, go to "Past Exhibitions" section of museum website. Accessed 8/17

The Nebraska Digital Alliance for the Arts is a vision for the application of digital technologies as a tool for Nebraska arts organizations, artists, performers, musicians, theatres, symphonies, museums, educators, and universities. This video provides a look at what the future could be; an exciting venture to equip artists and organizations to form, manage, and operate their own coalition.

Nebraska Public Television archives podcasts and video. An example in video format is Arts in Nebraska with eight video segmants as of August 13, 2009.

Nebraska Public Television archives MONA Moments on Nebraska Public Radio, written and narrated by Ron Roth, Director of the Museum of Nebraska Art. In the site's search box, enter "mona moments" and choose "NET Websites" to access 137 episodes as of November 2008. The NPTV web site says that Moments "...are designed to "educate and inform NPR listeners on Nebraska's visual art heritage, and to promote MONA." Each Moment, with 2 to 7 minutes of audio, has a separate web page containing a link to enable the viewer to replay the audio broadcast, a complete transcript of the audio, plus a thumbnail image of the art subject being covered to provide context. The thumbnail image is linked to a larger image with a caption on a separate page

The Sheldon Museum of Art's website includes an Audio/Video Library, which includes a podcast titled Women Artists in Nebraska, 1880-1950, illustrated by images of paintings discussed by Sheldon Curator Sharon Kennedy,

(above: Alfred Jacob Miller, Indian Boy, watercolor, gouache, ink and pencil on tissue paper laid down on paper, Christies. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Books, listed by year of publication, with most recently published book listed first:

A Harmony of the Arts: The Nebraska State Capitol, By Frederick C. Luebke. Published 1990 by U of Nebraska Press. 122 pages. ISBN:0803228872.

One Hundred Years of Nebraska Women Artists, By Museum of Nebraska Art. Published by Museum of Nebraska Art, 1990

Art and Artists in Nebraska: An Exhibition Presented February 11-March 28, 1982, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska--Lincoln, By Norman A. Geske, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska--Lincoln Center for Great Plains Studies. Published by The Gallery, 1983. Original from the University of California. Digitized Mar 6, 2007. 149 pages

The Lininger Era: June 4 - August 27, 1972: an Exhibition Featuring the Collection of George W. Lininger, By Joslyn Art Museum, Joslyn Art Museum. Published by Joslyn Art Museum, 1972. 20 pages

The Nebraska Art Association: A History, 1888-1971, By Fred N. Wells. Published by s.n., 1972. 55 pages

Nebraska Art Today: A Centennial Invitational Exhibition, By Nebraska Arts Council, Cultural Committee, Nebraska Centennial Commission Cultural Committee, Nebraska Centennial Commission, Nebraska Arts Council. Published by Joslyn Art Museum, 1967. 84 pages

Nebraska Art and Artists, By University of Nebraska (Lincoln campus). School of Fine Arts, School of Fine Arts, University of Nebraska (Lincoln campus). Published by The School of Fine Arts, The University of Nebraska, 1932. 82 pages

History of the City of Omaha, Nebraska, By James Woodruff Savage, John Thomas Bell, Consul Willshire Butterfield. Published by Munsell, 1894. 699 pages

(above: Angel De Cora Dietz, Untitled, oil on canvas, c. 1900. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

Articles:

Sharon Gustafson: "Early Nebraska Women Artists 1880-1950," Early Nebraska Women Artists 1880-1950, 2001, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Orville H Zabel, "History in Stone: The Story in Sculpture on the Exterior of the Nebraska Capitol," Nebraska History 62 (1981): 285-372 (.pdf file)

(above: Augustus Dunbier, Toward Taxco, 1949, oil on canvas, 24 x 28 inches. Private collection.)

Musical accompanyment:

Omaha Indian Music, source: Library of Congress, Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America Collection

Return to Individual States Art History Project

*Tag for expired US copyright of object image:

Links to sources of information outside of our web site are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. Please use due diligence in judging the quality of information contained in these and all other web sites. Information from linked sources may be inaccurate or out of date. TFAO neither recommends or endorses these referenced organizations. Although TFAO includes links to other web sites, it takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exerts any editorial or other control over them. For more information on evaluating web pages see TFAO's General Resources section in Online Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History.

Search Resource Library