For Immediate Release: April 2024

Media Contact: Rachel Trevino, 210-854-8889, rachel@talk-strategy.com.

NEW SID RICHARDSON MUSEUM EXHIBIT EXPLORES ILLUSTRATIONS
BY TWO FAMOUS WESTERN AMERICAN PAINTERS

Remington and Russell in Black and White Opens May 4 in Downtown Fort Worth

FORT WORTH, TX – (May 3, 2024)–Opening Saturday, May 4, at the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Remington and Russell in Black and White explores works made specifically for illustration by famed Western American painters Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. Pairing the artists’ original black and white compositions alongside printed examples in books and magazines, the exhibition invites viewers to explore works created for a public fascinated by stories of the American West.

“Remington and Russell are the premier painters who established the genre of the American West,” said Scott Winterrowd, Sid Richardson Museum director. “It is through their published works that they gained a wide audience across the country making them two of the most popular artists of their day.”

Remington’s first commercial illustration appeared in 1882, and a few short years later his career was established when he began a close working relationship with Harper’s Weekly magazine. In his fifteen year relationship with Harper’s, Remington illustrated articles and authored over 100 stories. Beyond that important partnership, his work appeared in 142 books and 41 periodicals, including Scribner’s Magazine, Outing, Century Magazine, and Collier’s Weekly.

Early in his career Russell sold an illustration to Harper’s Weekly in 1888, but apart from occasional book and magazine projects, his real output in illustration wouldn’t begin until after his first trip to New York in 1904. Russell found commercial success in both illustrating and selling the rights to his paintings for reproductions in calendars, advertisements, and as prints. He created black and white works in oil, watercolor and gouache, and pen and ink sketches until the end of his life in 1926, and is considered one of the most successful illustrators of his day.

In addition to more than 30 objects, Remington and Russell in Black and White will also feature some of the printing and reproduction processes used during the Golden Age of Illustration–including the process of transferring a work of art into a wood engraving for printing.

Amongst the artworks on view are several loans from private collections, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. This will also be the first exhibition to feature both Spanish and English-language artwork labels to ensure accessibility for the community.

About the Museum

The Sid Richardson Museum, a Fort Worth art museum located in historic Sundance Square, features permanent and special exhibitions of paintings by the premier Western artists, Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. The works, reflecting both the romance and reality of the American West, are the legacy of the late oilman and philanthropist, Sid Williams Richardson. Most were acquired by him from 1942 until his death in 1959. The collection also includes works by Oscar E. Berninghaus, Charles F. Browne, Edwin W. Deming, William Gilbert Gaul, Peter Hurd, Frank Tenney Johnson, William R. Leigh, Peter Moran, and Charles Schreyvogel. Museum directions and hours can be found online at sidrichardsonmuseum.org.