Blog

22 04, 2014

Basketry

2020-01-17T12:50:42-06:00April 22nd, 2014|2 Comments

Basket weaving is an ancient craft, as old as the human race. In fact, basketry antedates pottery, having been in an advanced stage while pottery was still in its infancy. The word “basket” has changed very little from its original, the Welsh “basgawd,” which literally means a weaving or putting together of splinters. It is believed that the development of baskets originated first from canes and then gourds, used to carry water. But gourds were heavy and difficult to transport, especially when travelling long distances across a desert. To help alleviate this distress, the carrier wrapped the gourd in a [...]

15 04, 2014

Trouble on the Range

2020-01-17T12:48:34-06:00April 15th, 2014|0 Comments

Russell’s When Cowboys Get in Trouble shows a scene familiar to many cowboys. Two of the horses are rearing and trying to buck their riders so they can flee from the mad cow. The saliva flying from the cow’s mouth reveals its frustration, and you can sense the horses’ fear in their widened eyes! In the middle of all the confusion, the cowboy on the gray horse frantically tries to pull his gun out without tangling his hand in the rope. Will he get to the gun before it’s too late? Charles M. Russell, When Cowboys Get in Trouble [...]

9 04, 2014

Travel by Night

2020-01-17T12:47:22-06:00April 9th, 2014|4 Comments

On a starry night, a stagecoach pulled by six horses travels on a moonlit path through a mountainous range when the horses get spooked. What has terrified the horses? The artist, Frederic Remington, does not tell us, but instead implies that there is something beyond the painting’s frame. The title, A Taint on the Wind, suggests that the horses smell traces of a foul odor in the breeze, causing them to pull of the reins. Frederic Remington, A Taint On the Wind, 1906, Oil on canvas, 27 1/8 x 40 inches While stagecoach travel was a popular mode [...]

31 03, 2014

Happy Birthday, Gilbert Gaul!

2020-01-17T12:45:50-06:00March 31st, 2014|4 Comments

Today marks William Gilbert Gaul’s birthday (1855-1919). Like another artist represented in the museum’s collection - Peter Moran - Gaul served as a special agent in 1890 for the eleventh census, focusing on American Indians in the United States. In particular, the artist observed the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Reservations in North Dakota. The census of 1890 was the first to use automated processing methods, which reduced the amount of time involved in charting the results, from eight years for the 1880 census, down to one year for the 1890 census. Out of a population of over sixty million [...]

27 03, 2014

Madonnas of the Prairie

2020-01-17T12:44:54-06:00March 27th, 2014|2 Comments

Upon special occasions, the Sid Richardson loans works from the collection to other institutions. This spring, Charlie Russell’s Three Generations is taking a road trip up to Canyon, Texas to be included in the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum’s exhibition - Madonnas of the Prairie: Depictions of Women in the American West. Charles M. Russell, Three Generations, 1897, Oil on canvas, 17 1/8 x 24 1/4 inches Organized by Michael Grauer, Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Art and Western Heritage, the exhibition highlights the representation of women in the American West. Grauer notes: In the mid-nineteenth century [...]

19 03, 2014

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

2020-01-17T12:44:07-06:00March 19th, 2014|1 Comment

“I have hade several birthdays myself some it’s a wonder I lived through but they say joy never kills an I Guess this is true caus Iv swollowed enough joy to drowned a cow on sevral occasions.” – CM Russell to Paris Gibson, June 29, 1916 Today marks Charles Russell’s birthday. By the time Russell died in 1926, he had established a career as an artist of the American West, leaving a lasting legacy in painting, watercolor, and bronze. In addition, Russell was a devoted author of correspondence, producing more than 500 letters, most of which were illustrated. Because expressing [...]

12 03, 2014

Animals in Art

2020-01-17T12:43:30-06:00March 12th, 2014|0 Comments

In our children’s programs, so often we study the People of the West: cowboys, American Indians, soldiers, pioneers, explorers, etc. This year, our children’s spring break workshops focus on the animals featured in our collection, allowing the students to think about the wild life that lived in the West and consider how important each animal was to the people living in that region. Man’s relationship with animals is a universal theme that knows no time boundaries. Children today can relate their own experiences with animals to those who lived in the old West, placing the 19th Century into a context [...]

4 03, 2014

Happy Birthday, Peter Moran!

2020-01-17T12:42:08-06:00March 4th, 2014|2 Comments

Today is Peter Moran’s birthday. While his brother, Thomas Moran, has long been recognized as one of the premier painters of the American landscape, Peter Moran has received less attention, partly due to the lack of primary source material available. Like his brother, Peter was drawn to the West and traveled to that region on many sketching trips, resulting in paintings like Indian Encampment, in the museum’s collection. Peter Moran, Indian Encampment, c. 1880-1881, Oil on panel, 12 7/8 x 31 inches Overtime, Peter Moran garnered a reputation as an accomplished etcher of animals. In particular, cattle were [...]

26 02, 2014

The Art of Frames

2020-01-17T12:40:33-06:00February 26th, 2014|4 Comments

When you look at a painting, what do you notice? Subject matter? The artist’s application of paint? How about the frame? A frame can have a significant impact on our perception of a work of art. While protecting the painting, frames also serve an aesthetic and symbolic function. During the time Sid Richardson began collecting art of the American West, French 18th-century Louis XIV-style frames were widely used. These ornate, gilded frames were a way of glorifying the paintings, conveying prestige and wealth simultaneously. Whether or not the frame was appropriate for the period or style of art wasn't often [...]

22 02, 2014

Happy Birthday, Peter Hurd!

2020-01-17T12:39:40-06:00February 22nd, 2014|5 Comments

Today marks the birthday of Peter Hurd, born in 1904. A native of New Mexico, Hurd became a member of the famous Wyeth family after marrying the daughter of renowned illustrator N. C. Wyeth. Earning the distinction as one of the great painters of the Southwest, the artist was known for his work in the meticulous medium of egg tempera. Hurd was acquainted with Sid Richardson before beginning work on his portrait. In Sid, Peter found a colorful and amusing old friend. Although the portrait was executed in Palm Springs, CA, the painting’s background depicts Richardson’s ranch in San Jose [...]