Alpine, TX
September 19-December 8
Frederic Remington, Charge of the Rough Riders, oil, 35 x 60.
This story was featured in the September 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2013 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!
The Museum of the Big Bend pulls out all the stops for the opening of its important new exhibition, Treasures From the Frederic Remington Art Museum. Three days of activities are planned in celebration of one of America’s finest western artists. The blockbuster opening weekend, September 19-21, includes a number of chance-of-a-lifetime opportunities, such as lectures, dinners, receptions, private tours, a gala and, most importantly, Remington art in paintings, drawings, and sculpture. “Not only do we have an incredible exhibit, but we have managed to bring in four of the nation’s leading Remington scholars,” museum director Liz Jackson says. Peter Hassrick, Dr. Ron Tyler, Dr. B. Bryon Price, and Michael Duty present talks about the many aspects of Remington and his works.
Frederic Remington, The Broncho Buster, bronze, #23 Henry Bonnard Foundry ca. 1895, 24 x 20 x 10.
An example of one of the exhibit’s exceptional opportunities? “CHARGE OF THE ROUGH RIDERS is rarely on display,” Jackson says. “It illustrates Roosevelt’s famous charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War.” Jackson says that the last time the piece was displayed outside of the Remington Museum was at the Library of Congress in the 1980s. “The fact that we’re getting the opportunity to display it is huge,” she says.
In his last decade, Remington delved deeply into painting nocturnal scenes. THE CIGARETTE (or AROUND THE CAMPFIRE), one of the pieces in the exhibit, illustrates the skill he achieved with its depiction of four cowboys huddled around a small fire, cigarettes in their fingers. Jackson says, “The way he has captured the deep colors of the night shows how the subjects are exhausted; they’ve been worn out on the terrain for a really long time.”
Jackson says that for a museum of its size to put on an exhibit of this magnitude, “We really had to stretch our wings. With the help of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mallory, friends of the museum, the exhibit will display more than 22 Remington works,” says Jackson. The work are on loan from the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, NY. “Most have never even crossed the state line, have never been in Texas,” Jackson says.
Jackson adds, “A lot of people don’t know that the Museum of the Big Bend is on the campus of Sul Ross State University, the home of the first collegiate rodeo. It’s a nice marriage between this kind of exhibit and a school with a deep history of ranching.” The school logo is actually read as a brand: “bar SR bar,” she says. “On top of the Remington exhibit, we have an incredible museum here that brings together the cultures of the Big Bend region, including Native American, Spanish, Union armies of Fort Davis, and ranching.”
This exhibition is sure to bring national attention to the little town of Alpine, TX. “The entire town is working with the show,” Jackson says. “Hotels and B&B’s are offering Remington rates, and all of our visitor centers and chambers of commerce are very involved. It’s really a huge community event.” —Anne Hopper Vickstrom
contact information
432.837.8143
www.sulross.edu/museum
Featured in the September 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art September 2013 print issue or digital download
Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!
-
- Frederic Remington, Buffalo Hunter Spitting a Bullet Into a Gun, 1892, ink wash/watercolor, 29 x 25 x 1.
-
- Frederic Remington, On the Skirmish Line, 1894, ink wash, 24 x 29 x 13.
-
- Frederic Remington, Prospectors Making Frying-Pan Bread, ca. 1893-1897, oil, 34 x 47 x 2.
-
- Frederic Remington, Sunday Morning Toilet on the Ranch, 1885, watercolor, 27 x 31 x 2.
-
- Frederic Remington, The Broncho Buster, bronze, #23 Henry Bonnard Foundry ca. 1895, 24 x 20 x 10.
-
- Frederic Remington, Charge of the Rough Riders, oil, 35 x 60.
-
- Frederic Remington, Untitled Horse Study, oil, 10 x 14.
-
- Frederic Remington, Untitled, possibly The Cigarette, oil, ca. 1908-1909, 30 x 27.
*All works from the Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg, New York.
MORE RESOURCES FOR ART COLLECTORS & ENTHUSIASTS
• Subscribe to Southwest Art magazine
• Learn how to paint & how to draw with downloads, books, videos & more from North Light Shop
• Sign up for your Southwest Art email newsletter & download a FREE ebook