{"id":37523,"date":"2017-12-17T12:47:02","date_gmt":"2017-12-17T18:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=37523"},"modified":"2018-09-14T12:48:09","modified_gmt":"2018-09-14T18:48:09","slug":"works-by-natives-and-newcomers-at-umfas-go-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/works-by-natives-and-newcomers-at-umfas-go-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Works by Natives and Newcomers at UMFA\u2019s Go West!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by Sherl Gillilan<\/div>\n
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William Henry Dethlef Koerner (American, born in Germany, 1878\u20131938), Madonna of the Prairie, 1921, oil on canvas, 43.5 x 35.5 inches (frame), Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, USA, Museum purchase, 25.77<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I am not a western art aficionado, maybe because I\u2019ve lived most of my life in the West and lean toward \u201cBeen there, seen that\u201d when it comes to western art as a genre. I\u2019ve viewed enough paintings of \u201cIndian Chiefs,\u201d mythic cowboys, sainted pioneers, unblemished landscapes, and bronze statues to last a lifetime. It\u2019s too reminiscent of Wilder\u2019s\u00a0Little House in the Big Woods<\/em>\u00a0when the reality of mid-19th<\/sup>-century western life was more like Rolvaag\u2019s\u00a0Giants in the Earth<\/em>. (Think \u201ccute little butter churn made by Pa\u201d versus \u201cWe have no milk because the cow died.\u201d) And, of course, that\u2019s only the white side of the story.<\/h4>\n

This conflicted thinking, however, is exactly why I\u2019d recommend a trip to the University Museum of Fine Arts to see the new exhibit,\u00a0Go West!<\/em>\u00a0on loan from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming. Once at the museum, you will see works from some of the most iconic Euro-American artists of the American West\u2014Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, Thomas Moran, George Catlin, and more\u2014but you\u2019ll also see the works of Native American artists exhibited side-by-side. Even more importantly, you will be invited into an important conversation about how art has been deliberately used to shape perceptions of our region and history.<\/h4>\n

Go West!<\/em>\u00a0covers several epochs during the period 1830 \u2013 1930. Starting after Lewis and Clark\u2019s expedition, the exhibit encompasses the \u201cdiscovery\u201d of new lands, the conquering of that land and its indigenous people, scientific renderings of the landscape, depictions of pioneers and cowboys moving to the frontier for freedom of space and religion, and domesticating the Wild West to make it palatable to Euro-Americans. In effect, these paintings and sculptures illustrate the age-old principle of, \u201cThey who control the art, control the narrative.\u201d<\/h4>\n

In stark contrast to the Euro-American paintings and sculptures is the exhibit of Native American art. A good deal of floor space is dedicated to various ceremonial and quotidian items created by Native American artists. As indicated by Leslie Anderson, UMFA curator of European, American, and regional art, \u201cThis exhibition lays bare the myths about westward expansion perpetuated by Euro-American artists in oil paint, ink, and bronze. It explores how American Indians preserved their way of life through artistic traditions during a period of forced relocation.\u201d<\/h4>\n

When viewing the exhibition, it is thought provoking to note the differences in subject matter between Euro-American artists and Native American artists. The former focus on \u201cobservations\u201d and represent the West and its indigenous and transplanted people and animals as stylized, beatific, unblemished, or violent, depending on the couture of the day. Native American artists, on the other hand, created their art to tell stories about themselves and their land, or to add color and design to ceremonial and everyday objects\u2013i.e., their art is not necessarily an \u201cobservation\u201d about other people or an attempt to shape outside perception. Another difference is that the Euro-American art is all ascribed to particular artists, and the creators of the Native American art are nameless\u2014perhaps reflecting radically different views about creation, value, and attribution.<\/h4>\n
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There are many stunning works of Native American art in the exhibit, including a beaded, deerskin dress that is remarkable both for its design and technical execution. There is also a deerskin jacket adorned with beads, otter fur, ribbon, glass beads, and dyed horsehair that is a colorful wonder. Drums, bags, horse dance sticks, and shields also display artwork as symbols of protection, celebration, or \u201cart for art\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Two of the most unconventional Euro-American paintings in the exhibit are by artist Astley Cooper: \u201cViewing the Curios,\u201d and \u201cIn the Studio.\u201d The former depicts a Native American in ceremonial dress examining \u201cIndian curios\u201d hung on the wall of a museum, and the latter depicts a Native American in full headdress sitting on a gilded stool, in the artist\u2019s studio, examining a painting of a bison about to be speared by a warrior. The accompanying museum placard notes, \u201cIn these paintings, Cooper questioned the relationship between art and reality,\u201d and then queries, \u201cDo you think the artist is critiquing or endorsing the display of American Indian art as objects of curiosity?\u201d<\/h4>\n

Another unconventional painting is \u201cBuffalo Head,\u201d by Albert Bierstadt. The museum\u2019s supplementary information indicates that Bierstadt sketched American bison directly from nature, and says that in this particular case he apparently \u201chid behind a bluff with his rifle in hand . . . but was so fascinated with its wild beauty that he let it go unharmed.\u201d Indeed, the bison views the viewer with his left eye \u201cup close and personal\u201d and simultaneously issues a challenge and a reprimand.<\/h4>\n
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Frederic Remington (American, 1861\u20131909), Buffalo Bill in the Limelight, ca. 1899, oil on canvas, 35.5 x 48.5 inches (frame), Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, USA, gift of The Coe Foundation, H. P. Skoglund, Ernest Goppert, Sr., and John S. Bugas, 23.71<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There\u2019s also a striking painting by Frederic Remington of William \u201cBuffalo Bill\u201d Cody and his Wild West Show. \u201cBuffalo Bill in the Light\u201d<\/em>\u00a0is rendered in black and white and spotlights the majesty and mystique of Cody and his glamorized depiction of life in the West. As noted in Wikipedia, Wild West shows were a \u201cwinning combination of history, patriotism, and adventure which managed to create an enduring spirit of the \u2018unsettled\u2019 West and capture audience\u2019s hearts through American and Europe.\u201d On display is also \u201cCol. William F. Cody,\u201d a painting by Rosa Bonheur, the only female Euro-American painter represented in the exhibition.<\/h4>\n

In \u201cThe Madonna of the Prairie,\u201d W.H.D. Koerner depicts a young woman driving a wagon whose face is framed beatifically with light and the circular shape of the surrounding canvas. Her expression is uncertain, perhaps wary, but her stylish maroon dress and bright red silk shawl hint of more jubilant days ahead if she can weather her current trials and tribulations. The painting first appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post and was used as an illustration for the fictional Covered Wagon series describing the adventures of wagon trains headed to Oregon in 1848.<\/h4>\n

In a side section of the exhibit, tucked into a corner, is the Speak Back Room, which encourages viewers to examine their existence in the West as part of living history. The Word Wall invites responses to, \u201cThe West used to be _______; \u00a0Today the West is _______; and My West is __________.\u201d There\u2019s also a manual typewriter that allows those who know how to use it to type out a response to \u201cWhat does Go West mean to you?\u201d<\/h4>\n
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As extensive as the Go West exhibit is, it\u2019s only the tip of the iceberg. The museum has forged several local partnerships to engage diverse perspectives of western landscape and meaning. Through the middle of March, educational offerings will include films, storytelling, lectures, tours, and Native American artists exploring the connections between their indigenous roots and their art practices. For a complete listing of available programs, visit\u00a0https:\/\/umfa.utah.edu\/go-west<\/a><\/h4>\n

So, challenge yourself and your perceptions of the West by seeing and hearing other people\u2019s views of our shared literal and cultural space\u2014because isn\u2019t that the point of any meaningful conversation?<\/h4>\n

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by Sherl Gillilan William Henry Dethlef Koerner (American, born in Germany, 1878\u20131938), Madonna of the Prairie, 1921, oil on canvas, 43.5 x 35.5 inches (frame), Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, USA, Museum purchase, 25.77 I am not a western art aficionado, maybe because I\u2019ve lived […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibition_reviews","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Remington-23.71.v1-1190x800.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-27 14:23:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37523"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37765,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37523\/revisions\/37765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}