The American West is an idea and a process as much as it is a location. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, depictions of the people, landscapes, and wildlife of the West fostered a sense of American identity that was rooted in a pioneering spirit of adventure and opportunity. Through nearly eighty paintings and sculptures ranging in date from 1822 to 1946, made by such artists as Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, C. M. Russell, Frederic Remington, E. Irving Couse, John Sloan, and Maynard Dixon, this exhibition explored the nuances of a complex American West, including its often-challenging history, especially in relation to Indigenous people, and its vibrant cultural and artistic diversity.
Organized by the Petrie Institute of Western American Art, Denver Art Museum.
Exhibition labels and panels
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Maynard Dixon. Wide Lands of the Navajo, 1945. Oil on canvas board, 24 x 38 in. Denver Art Museum: Roath Collection, 2013.100
E. Martin Hennings. Rabbit Hunt, ca. 1925. Oil on canvas, 35 1/2 x 39 1/2 in. Denver Art Museum: William Sr. and Dorothy Harmsen Collection, 2001.449. © E. Martin Hennings
Thomas Moran. A Snowy Mountain Range (Path of Souls, Idaho), 1896. Oil on canvas, 14 x 27 in. Denver Art Museum: Roath Collection, 2013.109
Charles Marion Russell. In the Enemy’s Country, 1921. Oil on canvas, 24 x 36 in. Denver Art Museum: Gift of the Magness Family in memory of Betsy Magness, 1991.751
Frank Tenney Johnson. The Trail Boss, 1920. Oil on canvas, 30 x 20 1/4 in. Denver Art Museum: Roath Collection, 2013.107
Robert Henri. Tom Po Qui (Water of Antelope Lake/Indian Girl/Romancita), 1914. Oil on canvas, 40 1/2 x 32 1/2 in. Denver Art Museum: William Sr. and Dorothy Harmsen Collection, 2001.461
William Jacob Hays. Herd of Buffalo, 1862. Oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 48 1/2 in. Denver Art Museum: Fred E. Gates Fund, 1960.39
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