By Kellie Houx, Editor of KC Studio
Vibrant
and masterful mixed media works on paper by the artist Alfred Jacob Miller,
depicting the American West as inspired by a six-month expedition in 1837, will
be on view in Romancing the West: Alfred Jacob Miller in the Bank of America
Collection. The
exhibition opened Sept. 25 at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and
then travels to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Philadelphia Museum
of Art in 2011.
Baltimore native Alfred Jacob Miller (1810–1874) was one of the first American artists to paint the “Far West,” considered at the time as exotic and distant by people living in the East. Bank of America’s 30 sheets, which have not been on view to the public since 1964, feature poetic images of the stunning landscape of early America, the daily life of Native Americans and mountain men, and the exotic wildlife and fauna he observed.
Miller traveled in 1837 with an American Fur Company expedition at the invitation of Scotsman William Drummond Stewart. The group left in April 1837 from St. Louis and followed what would become the Oregon Trail, then traveled by way of the Green River to Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains.
Miller made more than 100 field sketches during the expedition, and his adventure became the inspiration for at least a thousand paintings and watercolors. For nearly three decades, he received commissions for albums of watercolors and full-sized oil paintings that he produced in his studio.
The works from the Bank of America Collection represent intermediary work based on his field sketches and in preparation for works commissioned by patrons.
“We are thrilled to share Miller’s work with the general public,” said Margaret C. Conrads, Samuel Sosland Senior Curator, American Art, at the Nelson-Atkins and curator of the exhibition. “Viewers will find that fact mixes with fantasy to reflect life on the frontier both as it was and as Miller imagined it to be.”
The exhibition has given curators an opportunity to study Miller’s technique, his view of the West, his broader connection to European and American art, and the importance of his art in a larger context. A catalogue that accompanies the exhibition includes scholarship by Conrads; Stephanie Knappe, Assistant Curator, American Art, at the Nelson-Atkins; Lisa Strong, an independent Miller scholar; William H. Truettner, Senior Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum; and Kathleen A. Foster, the Robert L. McNeil, Jr., Senior Curator of American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Nancy Heugh, a paper conservator, also conducted technical analysis of Miller’s work.
Conrads says the six-month trip fueled Miller’s art for the next 35 years. The 35 works in the exhibit represent some of the first images of the West. Viewers of the works will also feel how Miller puts them in the middle of the action. “You seem to be on a horse or standing in the midst of the movement,” Conrads says. “While these are iconic Western images, Miller was already seeing their diminishing culture. He was extremely mindful to the Indian plight.”
This exhibition is organized by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and is made possible by the Bank of America Art in our Communities TM program. The Campbell-Calvin Fund and Elizabeth C. Bonner Charitable Trust provided additional support for exhibitions.
Coming Programs:
The “Real” Frontier: The American West in the National Imagination
Oct. 10, 2-4 p.m., Atkins Auditorium
John Herron, associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Missouri-Kansas
City, explores how early images of the West influenced Hollywood. Film clips will highlight America’s romance with the West and its allure for artists and filmmakers.
Oct. 22, 7-8 p.m., Gallery 218
Curator Stephanie Knappe will discuss various ways artists featured in the American art galleries depicted the West.
Finding the West in American Art
Dec. 3, 7-8 p.m., Atkins Auditorium
Carol Clark, William McCall Vickery 1957 Professor of the History of Art and American Studies at
Amherst College, will talk about the changing character of the American art we call “Western.”
A curator will introduce all screenings, with discussion to follow in the exhibition.
The Searchers
Nov. 14, 2-4:30 p.m., Atkins Auditorium
John Wayne stars as Ethan Edwards in this 1956 Western classic directed by John Ford. After returning from the Civil War, Edwards’ past with Comanche Indians endangers his family.
Jeremiah Johnson
Dec. 12, 2-4 p.m., Atkins Auditorium
This 1972 Western directed by Sydney Pollack stars Robert Redford as Jeremiah Johnson, a Mexican
War veteran who seeks refuge in the West and chooses a life that defines his character through struggles and losses.
Little Big Man
Jan. 9, 2011, 2-4:30 p.m., Atkins Auditorium
Dustin Hoffman starts in this movie directed by Arthur Penn as 121-year-old Jack Crabb who was raised as a member of the Cheyenne tribe and recounts adventures seeking his place in the West. This 1970 comedic drama contrasts the lives of American pioneers and Native Americans.
Tickets to these events are free, but require reservation: call 1.800.751.1ART (1278) or go to nelson-atkins.org, select the calendar tab and register online.
