Help Preserve the Spirit of the American West
The art gallery with T.D. Kelsey's 'Testing the Air,' 1997, in the foreground. L.277.2003.150.
Western Art Exhibits
Whitney Gallery of Western Art
In celebration of its fiftieth anniversary, the Whitney Gallery of Western Art was given a new, fresh look. Now grouped by subjects found in art of the West: wildlife, western landscapes, Native American depictions, western heroes and legends, and historic events, the Whitney Gallery creates new conversations in art.
The Frederic Remington studio and Alexander Phimister Proctor Studio Collection are also on view in the Whitney Gallery, showing how these artists utilized their work spaces, often finding inspiration from their surroundings or drawing from personal experiences. The studios give a rare glimpse into these artists' creative processes.
Curator's Choice: The Art of Frederic Remington
Currently on view in the H. Peter and Jeannette Kriendler Gallery of Art, located on the mezzanine of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is Curator's Choice: The Art of Frederic Remington. This exhibition showcases numerous studies, illustrations, and finished canvases in the Whitney Gallery of Western Art collection by renowned Western artist, Frederic Remington. Take an artistic journey with Remington, exploring the various landscapes and people he encountered and subsequently created in his art.
The West of Thomas Moran
Artist Thomas Moran is often considered the pivotal figure in efforts to make Yellowstone a national park. The artist accompanied F.V. Hayden's geological survey of the area along with photographer William H. Jackson. Moran painted the extraordinary sights of the Yellowstone region and Jackson's images proved they existed. In the mid-1870s, Boston chromolithographer Louis Prang commissioned Moran to provide scenes of the West for his The Yellowstone National Park and the Mountain Regions of Portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, and Utah, a publication in which he recreted Moran's work as color prints. The West of Thomas Moran displays seventeen of these stunning prints.
Images: Thomas Moran (1837 – 1926). The Castle Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, 1874. Chromolithograph by Louis Prang, 1876. Gift of Clara S. Peck. 18.71.3
Joseph Henry Sharp and the Absarokee Hut
Artist Joseph Henry Sharp established residence on the Crow Agency in Montana, living in a simple cabin with his wife Addie. His goal was to paint his favorite subject: Native American people. His Absarokee Hut, named for the Crow people, was restored and is part of the permanent collection of the Whitney Gallery of Western Art. Sharp, the father of the Taos Society of Artists in New Mexico in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century, captured intimate moments of Indian people throughout the Rocky mountains.
View several paintings, etchings, and photographs by Sharp near the entry to Sharp's Cabin, then see the cabin itself. From late May through early October, the Cabin is furnished with Sharp's original furniture and personal objects.
Interior of the Joseph Henry Sharp Cabin: The Absarokee Hut, on view at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.
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W.H.D. Koerner (1878 – 1938). Madonna of the Prairie, 1921. Oil on canvas, 37 x 28.75 x 43.5 inches. 25.77
The collections of the Whitney Gallery of Western Art present a panorama of art about the American West.