Russell's watercolors of the 19th century American West are considered to be among his finest efforts, and 16 will be in a rare exhibition from Feb. 11 through May 13, 2012. This exhibition launches the 30th anniversary year of the Fort Worth museum, which holds one of the most significant private collections of paintings by Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington in the U.S.
Fort Worth, TX (PRWEB) February 08, 2012
Admission is free to the museum, which is open daily except major holidays. Visitors from all 50 states and 68 countries have toured the museum at 309 Main Street in historic Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth since its opening in 1982. For information, visit sidrichardsonmuseum.org or call 888.332.6554.
"Charlie Russell's watercolors will help people gain a greater appreciation for his skill as an artist," said Mary Burke, director of the Sid Richardson Museum. "Although he is well known for his oil paintings, experts on Russell consider his watercolors to be among his finest efforts."
Burke noted that the watercolors complement the museum's permanent collection of paintings of the 19th century American West by Frederic Remington (1861-1909), Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), and other artists of the same era, amassed by legendary Texas oilman and philanthropist Sid W. Richardson (1891-1959). The museum is recognized as having one of the most significant private collections of Remington and Russell paintings in the United States.
The exhibition at the Richardson Museum is a companion exhibition to the first major retrospective of Russell's watercolors, Romance Maker: The Watercolors of Charles M. Russell, which also runs from Feb. 11 through May 13, 2012, at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Dr. Rick Stewart, a recognized authority on Russell, curated both exhibitions. Prior to his retirement, he was director and then chief curator of the Carter.
It is appropriate that the Richardson Museum’s 30th anniversary year feature an exhibition uniting the collections of Sid W. Richardson and his close friend, the legendary Fort Worth newspaper publisher, Amon G. Carter Sr. (1879–1955). The collaboration is the legacy of their friendship; in fact, Carter, who also collected Remingtons and Russells, encouraged Richardson to acquire many of the paintings in the Sid Richardson Museum's collection.
Of the 16 Russell watercolors in the Richardson Museum's exhibition, eight are on loan from the Amon Carter Museum, and the following eight rarely exhibited works are part of the Richardson Museum's permanent collection: Roping, ca. 1925-1926; Roping the Renegade, ca. 1883; The Brave’s Return, ca. 1891; Breaking Up the Ring [Breaking Up the Circle], 1900; He Tripped and Fell into a Den on a Mother Bear and Her Cubs, 1910; He Snaked Old Texas Pete Right Out of His Wicky-up, Gun and All, 1905; A Bad One, 1912; and On the Attack, 1901.
The eight watercolors on loan from the Amon Carter Museum are: Crees Meeting Traders, ca. 1896; War Council, ca. 1896; Indian on Horseback, 1907; Indians Sighting Buffalo, ca. 1896; A Piegan Flirtation, ca. 1896; Caught Napping, 1898; Indian Fight, 1898; and Approach of the White Men, 1897.
For the exhibition at the Sid Richardson Museum, to help visitors understand Russell's creative process, a display will illustrate a series of steps to demonstrate how he painted Indian on Horseback (1907), a work featured in the exhibition. The steps will include 1) the underdrawing, 2) applying general washes, 3) layering of colored washes to define shape, 4) using line for definition, and 5) adding highlights. In addition, "paint outs" of Russell’s watercolor palette will be included.
The museum's education program offers students an opportunity to learn about the artists’ ideas, lives, and paintings, which reflected life in the American West in late 19th- and early 20th-century America. The Museum Store offers a special selection of gifts and merchandise in the spirit of the West.
The museum is owned and fully funded by the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, which Mr. Richardson established in 1947 to support organizations that serve the people of Texas. Foundation directors and staff have sought to fulfill Mr. Richardson's vision by providing grants to educational, health, human service, and cultural organizations.
Directors of the foundation are Edward P. Bass, chairman, Sid R. Bass, and Lee M. Bass; they are grandnephews of Mr. Richardson. Their mother, Nancy Lee Bass, is director emerita; their father, Perry R. Bass (1914-2006), was Mr. Richardson’s nephew. Pete Geren is president of the foundation.
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Bill Lawrence
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