Curator’s Corner

The museum made a recent discovery about an artwork from the collection as a result of one of our public programs, Tea & Talk. Designed to help us slow down the art looking experience by spending 10, 20, or even 30 minutes with one work of art. Tea & Talk engages participants through shared conversation about what we see. During a recent virtual Tea & Talk with Peter Moran’s c. 1880-81 oil painting Indian Encampment, the conversation focused on the large number of horses in the painting, leading some to speculate that the Indigenous people in the painting may have [...]

Our current exhibit, In A Different Light: Winslow Homer & Frederic Remington, explores some of the comparisons in the careers of these two iconic American artists. One of those parallels is that both Homer & Remington served as artist war correspondents: Homer in the Civil War and Remington in the Indian Wars in the Southwest and the Spanish American War in Cuba. The exposure to the realities of war made a lasting impression on both men. At the outset of the Civil War, Harper’s dispatched Homer to the frontlines in Virginia in 1861 to capture life on the battlefield. On [...]

Our current exhibit, In a Different Light: Winslow Homer & Frederic Remington, includes some artworks by Homer that focus on his seaside imagery. Homer often created scenes focusing on the forces of nature and dangers of the turbulent sea. Some artworks may include women looking anxiously out at sea, as in his 1888 etching Perils of the Sea, available to view through our virtual tour. Some artworks include scenes of near-drowned women, as in this 1887 etching The Life Line. Both prints are part of a group of etchings that Homer produced in the 1880s that closely followed his painted compositions. In The Life [...]

One of the similarities between Frederic Remington and Winslow Homer as demonstrated through our current exhibit, In a Different Light: Winslow Homer & Frederic Remington, is that both artists made their start as illustrators working for the popular magazines of the period (Harper’s Weekly, Scribner’s Monthly, etc). One of their key assignments was as war correspondents. Remington focused on the American Indian Wars in the Southwest and later the Spanish American War in Cuba. Being from an earlier generation, Homer focused on the American Civil War. In 1863, Homer partnered with Boston publisher Louis Prang (who is sometimes referred to as the “father of the American Christmas card”) in a [...]

One of the themes of our current exhibition In a Different Light: Winslow Homer & Frederic Remington, is the exploration of both artists’ practice of repeating character types throughout their career. The exhibit includes a rotation of works on paper by Homer. One of the rotations features two works inspired by Homer’s visit to Cullercoats, England - Perils of the Sea (1888) and Scotch Mist (1883). Examination of the two artworks reveals Homer’s practice of reusing groupings of figures while reducing compositions to their essential story-telling elements.   Perils of the Sea | Winslow Homer | 1888 | Etching | Amon Carter Museum of American Art | 1983.58 Scotch Mist | Winslow Homer (1836-1910) | 1883 [...]

Our current exhibit, In a Different Light, places the work by Frederic Remington alongside artworks by Winslow Homer. Our visitors and readers are likely familiar with Remington. But who was Homer? Winslow Homer (1836 - 1910) was one of the most popular and celebrated artists of late nineteenth-century America. A native of Boston, he was born the second of three brothers to Henrietta Benson and Charles Homer. Henrietta was herself a gifted watercolorist, and likely influenced her son to pursue artistic studies. Winslow Homer His earliest artistic training came in 1854 when Homer became an apprentice to the [...]

In March 2020, the Sid Richardson Museum will open In a Different Light: Winslow Homer & Frederic Remington. The exhibition will offer a reexamination of Remington alongside Homer, two giants in American art. Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was one of the most celebrated American painters of the 19th century. Likewise, Frederic Remington (1861-1909) is considered to be one of the greatest artists of the American West. Though born a generation apart, Homer and Remington were both at the height of their careers in the 1880s and 90s. Winslow Homer (1836-1910) | Two Figures by the Sea | 1882 | Oil [...]

In 1948, A&M College of Texas (now A&M University), established the “Opportunity Award.” The scholarship intended to aid “worthy young men of Texas” who were unable to afford college without financial assistance. Sid Richardson contributed regularly to the fund for several years. Although he was a wealthy business man, Sid came from a humble background much like the young men the scholarship award supported. “I had it sort of rough when I was young, and I’d like to do something for underprivileged kids.” Jesse “Jack” Mercer Couch , 1951 Many of the recipients of the scholarship fund wrote Sid letters [...]

St. Joseph (San José) Island, 8 miles east of the coast of Rockport, TX, is a sand barrier island in Aransas County. The St. Joseph Island Ranch, a stretch of land 19 miles long and up to 5 miles wide, was purchased by Richardson in 1936. Exterior, Sid W. Richardson Residence | MAYNARD L. PARKER (1900-1976) | ca.1947 | Courtesy of The Huntington Library, San Marino, California “[Mr. Richardson] enjoyed [San Jose Island] because he could go down there and get away from everything and Perry [Sid’s nephew] liked that because he’d go down there and he liked to fish [...]

Opening September 14, 2019, A Fortune in Oils: Sid Richardson's Personal Collection is a special exhibition that honors Sid Williams Richardson (1891-1959), who left a legacy through his personal collection of western masterworks and the foundation he established in 1947. Woven through the letters, photographs, publications, and his beloved paintings on display is the story of a plain-spoken, unpretentious, and intensely private man whose wealth, earned principally from West Texas petroleum, enabled him to pursue his interests as a cattleman, philanthropist, and collector of paintings. Peter Hurd, Portrait of Sid Richardson, 1958, Oil on panel, 32 x 48 inches [...]