Forging an American Identity
The Art of William Ranney

William Ranney (1813-1857) painted masterworks of art that are narrative essays on life, giving a window into the cultural past. During his lifetime Ranney created his studio as a western environment, filled with gear and trappings of the frontier; this setting garnered critical attention for the artist and his work. His powerful interpretations of adventures on the prairies and plains have continued to associate Ranney with the West to today. Yet, as this retrospective exhibition reveals, William Ranney’s scope was larger than one region. His art evokes concepts of national identity, revealed not only through his paintings of life on the frontier, but also in portraiture, genre paintings, sporting scenes and history paintings.