Posts from ‘Art History’
Image by Taylor Glenn
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
On Sunday, May 12th, National Geographic photographer Wade Davis makes an appearance at Jackson’s first annual Mountain Story Festival, courtesy of the Murie Center. There’s no getting away from the fact that climbing treacherous, challenging peaks here—and anywhere in the world—is a huge part of our culture. Climbers take in the outdoors in a mind-bending way. The closest I’ve come to being that high, with a few thousand feet between me and flat ground is the year I skydived, on a dare, at college. I’d do that again before I’d climb the Grand or any other giant, jagged, craggy mountain!
Others have infinitely more guts. These extreme personalities can’t keep themselves from climbing; they climb in their sleep. Which is why Davis’ talk on his new book “Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest” should be packed. Mothers, be warned! Content may be nerve racking! 7:00 pm start, Pink Garter Theater, downtown Jackson.
Wednesday, May 15th, the Murie Center’s Mardy’s Conservation Collection Book Club meets to discuss the Murie’s book, Wapiti Wilderness.
“In this autobiographical tale…Olaus and Mardy describe their life together, raising a family in the mountainous wilderness of the Tetons, while Olaus worked for the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey,” says the Center. The gathering takes place at the the Murie’s original home, Murie Ranch, in Moose, WY, at 6:30 pm. Lively discussion, reflection and inspiration are a promise. www.muriecenter.org.
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The Grand Teton Association (GTA) has announced its line-up of plein air artists for this summer’s “Artists in the Environment” (AIE) series, taking place the second Saturday of every month, June – September, in Grand Teton National Park(GTNP). Each of those weekends, regional plein air painters provide free painting demonstrations at locations throughout GTNP. Founded by the late, great plein air artists Greg McHuron and Conrad Schwiering, the program has offered countless visitors and art lovers a free chance to see artists capturing the beauty surrounding us.
I have a personal passion for this program~~I believe the history of plein air painting in this valley, and in the Greater Yellowstone Region, is one of America’s most important art history stories. Its tradition is unbreakable; the artists’ bonds are like steel.
For fifty years, the GTA has celebrated GTNP via the arts. All proceeds realized by the GTA serve to broaden education, research and interpretation of GTNP.
Times and locations are TBA, but participating artists for 2013 are: Dwayne Harty – June 15th; Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters & Co., – July 13th; Wendell Field - August 10th; and Fred Kingwill - September 14th. More on all these artists as summer progresses!
Paul Bransom (1885-1979) -Jackson Hole, Wyo- 13 x 17″ Oil
You think you’ve seen everything, and suddenly a gem crosses your path. This gem is an oldie, but it shines. It’s history, and a wonderful window into our valley’s arts and wilderness tradition. We are a plein air paradise. A few days ago I paid a visit to Astoria Fine Art and visited the collection of plein air paintings of the Tetons currently in house. The collection is not a true show, but viewed together these works afford an excellent “view” of the many ways artists have painted this valley.
For me, the most exciting find was a scene painted by Paul Bransom (1885-1979). Bransom, notes the gallery (and the gallery credits the National Museum of Wildlife Art), “was a prominent early-American illustrator, having completed covers for the Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, Country Gentleman and Good Housekeeping. Beginning in 1947, Bransom spent 16 summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He met many other artists and illustrators in Jackson, and together they taught classes and started Teton Artists Associated.” Another source says Bransom’s commissions included illustrations for Kipling’s “Just So Stories” and Grahame’s “Wind in the Willows.”
Teton Artists Association, circa 1947, Jackson Hole.
Astoria’s Bart Monson was kind enough to provide an historic photograph of plein air artists painting in the valley; the photo dates circa 1947. The image, from the Archives of American Art, is assumed to be a photograph of Teton Artists Associated members painting en plein air. Phenomenal!
Astoria, says owner Greg Fulton, recently acquired four historical paintings depicting the Teton Range. Those and other contemporary works are available to see; artists include Conrad Schwiering, Scott Christensen, Carol Swinney, Jim Wilcox, romantic landscape painter Linda Tuma Robertson, and more. www.astoriafineart.com
George Catlin, Buffalo Bull, Grazing on the Prairie, 1832-1833, oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
The National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Curator of Art, Adam Harris, is the guest curator for an exhibition opening May 18th, 2013 at the museum. This remarkable exhibition, assembled in cooperation with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, continues a new theme direction for the museum: exploration and examination of the American West. As a region, we’re shifting towards emphasizing the American West timeline, and along that timeline the overlapping, interconnected movements of art, conservation and exploration are continuous.
George Catlin’s American Buffalo is “entirely drawn from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection,” and will remain on display through August 18th, 2013. The show looks at Catlin’s work and feelings about the West via his representation of buffalo and their “integration into the lives of Native Americans.” Forty works are featured.
“Catlin’s paintings illuminate in great detail the close ties between Native American tribes and bison in the 1830s, and his writings about the land and its native inhabitants have informed generations of conservationists as they wrestle with sustainable ways to manage America’s Great Plains,” says Harris, who also contributed an essay for the show’s illustrated catalogue, to be published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “Having the chance to work with the Smithsonian American Art Museum to interpret Catlin’s words and images was a great honor,” Harris says. “The resulting exhibit and catalog will help contemporary audiences see Catlin in a new light.”
George Catlin, Buffalo Chase with Bows and Lances, 1832-1833, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
There’s nothing about Jackson art in this post!
Starting off here with a sensitive commentary on the film “Quartet”. Its story line and ensemble acting were so engaging, but the biggest stars of that film were its magnificent trees. So many scenes set amidst extraordinary, historic, spreading ancient oaks and forest. Shelter, sustenance. Their almost imperceivable sounds, whispers.
A friend wrote:
“At times, Tammy, the tree world from the point of view of being in the air among their branches, feeling the ways in which they influence the movement of air and light from above, softening always this space overhead for us on the ground, opens the feeling that collectively trees must be very advanced life forms that have achieved something like enlightenment.”
Joni Mitchell (listen!) wrote:
“If you’re drivin’ into town with a dark cloud above you/dial in the number who’s bound to love you/oh honey you turn me on, I’m a radio/I’m a country station/I’m a little bit corny/I’m a wildwood flower waving for you/broadcasting tower waving for you…..”
It’s something about sound and airwaves and the feeling of being connected and collected that made me put those two writings together.
Frank Tenney Johnson (1874-1939) Apaches at Moonrise (Eventide)
“The point of the show, and everything else we do at Heather James, is to bring works of excellence by a large variety of artists and genres to the viewing public and collectors. This show is no exception,” says Heather James Fine Art’s Shari Brownfield, gallery director. “Our goal is to always be searching for fine examples of paintings or sculptures by great artists. When you get all these greats together, and curate them either into an integrated thematic or genre show, it’s amazing the conversations elicited just by hanging certain works side by side.”
Joseph H. Sharp (1859-1953) Taos Moonlight
Right now Heather James Fine Art, known for its Post War, Contemporary, Latin American, Impressionist and Modern Art, as well as collections and works from all corners of the earth, is showcasing an impressive collection of (and I’m linking you to the best-known museum for this genre, the Autry) American Western Masters. Now on display at Heather James’ Palm Desert location, the works come from a variety of private sellers. Together, they comprise one hell of a show. Represented artists are Maurice Braun, Gerald Cassidy, William Gollings, E. Martin Hennings, Frank Tenney Johnson, William R. Leigh, Frederic Remington, Joseph H. Sharp (sigh…love Sharp) and Olaf Wieghorst. Provenançes include institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Museum of Fine Art in Santa Fe, the Gerald Peters Gallery and private collections in Jackson Hole, Dallas and Houston, Denver, and the state of Florida.
