Collections and Bibliography

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The collections of the Whitney Gallery of Western Art present a panorama of art about the American West, commemorating the events and people and celebrating the landscape of this region. Through a chronological survey from the early nineteenth century to contemporary times, the artworks narrate a history of the West.

Here you find masterworks by revered artists such as George Catlin, Alfred Jacob Miller, Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, Alexander Phimister Proctor, W.R. Leigh, Joseph Henry Sharp, N.C. Wyeth and many others.

The following is a sampling of artworks in the Whitney's collection - join us on June 21, 2009 as we unveil a new look and interpretation for the Whitney Gallery of Western Art.

Frederic Remington (1861-1909) became one of the most famous Western artists through his archetypal depiction of the Wild West — bucking broncos, danger and conflict. Late in his career, as he loosened his brushstrokes and experimented with color, Remington painted masterworks, such as Radisson and Groseilliers, which portrays a more harmonious encounter with the frontier.

William Ranney (1813-1857) created genre paintings, scenes of everyday life on the American frontier. In his work, Advice on the Prairie, he portrayed a group of Western settlers traveling on the Oregon Trail. As they are camped with their wagon for the evening, the settlers listen to the counsel of an experienced mountain man, a representative of an earlier period of frontier history. He tells tales of what they will encounter, as part of this new wave of western settlement. The mother and child point to the promise of future generations.

Thomas Moran's (1837-1926) name became synonymous with Yellowstone National Park. After he accompanied the official governmental expedition into the region in 1871, Moran's sketches of the wonders helped to convince Congress to establish Yellowstone as the first national park the very next year. The artist returned to the park in 1892, with photographer William Henry Jackson, to create memorable images of the park, such as this view of the Golden Gate Pass, for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Conflicts in the American West inspired many artists. Custer's Last Stand, Edgar S. Paxson's (1852-1919) monumental history painting of the Battle of the Little Big Horn - where the cavalry regiment led by Lt. Col. George A. Custer was annihilated - was based on studies of the battlefield and reports from the officers of supporting regiments.

In the early years of the 20th century, Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953) divided his time between painting the Northern Plains Indian tribes of Montana and the Southwestern tribes of New Mexico. In The Broken Bow, Sharp depicts a tender scene of family life, but combines elements of the two culture areas, using Plains clothing and an adobe setting.

In the latter half of the twentieth century the American West changed extensively with growing populations and urban expansion. Yet the region maintained an identity based on its nineteenth century history. Artists have made an important contribution to this identity, because they have kept the myths of the West vividly before our eyes - but they also bring forth reminders that the West exists within the complexity of the twenty-first century.

James Bama (b. 1926) uses a style of realism that appears to be photographically precise in A Contemporary Sioux Indian. Here Bama presents a young Sioux who evidences connections with Indian traditions, yet is also very much a contemporary person in a world that does not easily accept him.

Please find image creditlines below.

Whitney Gallery of Western Art Bibliography

For more information on our collections, please see the works listed in the following bibliography.

Some of the in-print publications in this bibliography may be purchased online from Museum Selections, or you may order by telephone at 307/587.3243 or 800/533.3838. You can also consult your local library. Books not in the holdings of your local library can often be borrowed through inter-library loan.

Prepared by the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 720 Sheridan Avenue, Cody, WY 82414. 21 August 2008.

IMAGES

1. Frederic Remington (1861-1909). Radisson and Groseilliers, 1905. Oil on canvas: 17 1/4 x 30 in. Gift of Mrs. Karl Frank

2. William Ranney (1813-1857). Advice on the Prairie,1853. Oil on canvas: 38 3/4 x 55 1/4 in. Gift of Mrs. J. Maxwell Moran.

3. Thomas Moran (1837-1926). Golden Gate, Yellowstone National Park,1893. Oil on canvas: 36 1/4 x 50 1/4 in.

4. Edgar S. Paxson (1852-1919). Custer's Last Stand, 1899 (detail). Oil on canvas, 70 1/2 x 106 in.

5. Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953). The Broken Bow, c. 1912. Oil on canvas: 44 1/2 x 59 3/8 in.

6. James E. Bama (b. 1926). A Contemporary Sioux Indian, 1978. Oil on panel: 28 3/8 x 35 3/8 in. William E. Weiss Contemporary Art Fund.