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Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West

November 3, 2018 - February 10, 2019
Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West
John Mix Stanley, Scouts in the Tetons, ca. 1855, detail, oil on canvas, GM 0126.1143
Albert Bierstadt, <i>Buffalo Hunt</i>, 1860. Oil on canvas, Private Collection, image courtesy of Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Albert Bierstadt, <i>A Bull Buffalo</i>, ca. 1878. Oil on paper, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming; Gift of Carman H. Messmore. 1.62
Albert Bierstadt, <i>Geysers in Yellowstone</i>, ca. 1881. Oil on canvas, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. Gift of Townsend B. Martin. 4.77
William Jacob Hays, Sr., <i>A Herd of Bison Crossing the Missouri River</i>, 1863. Oil on canvas, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Trust Fund Purchase. 3.60
Albert Bierstadt, <i>Island Lake, Wind River Range, Wyoming</i>, 1861. Oil on canvas, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. 5.79
Albert Bierstadt, <i>The Last of the Buffalo</i>, ca. 1888. Oil on canvas, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Trust Fund Purchase. 2.60
Rosa Bonheur, <i>Rocky Bear and Red Shirt</i>, 1890. Oil on board, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. Partial Bequest of Vernon R. Drwenski and Museum Purchase. 8.04.6
Albert Bierstadt, <i>Sierra Nevada Morning</i>, 1870. Oil on canvas, Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Gift of the Thomas Gilcrease Foundation, 1955. GM 0126.2305
Albert Bierstadt, <i>View of Chimney Rock, Ogalillah Sioux Village in the Foreground</i>, 1860. Oil on board. Colby College Museum of Art, Gift of the Honorable Roderic H.D. Henderson, 1964.026
Albert Bierstadt, <i>Wind River Mountains</i>, Nebraska Territory, 1862. Oil on board, Layton Art Collection, Inc. at the Milwaukee Art Museum. L1897.3. Photographer credit: Larry Sanders.
Albert Bierstadt, <i>The Wolf River</i>, Kansas, ca. 1859. Oil on canvas, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan. Founders Society Purchase, Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. Fund. 61.28 Bridgeman Images
Albert Bierstadt, <i>Yellowstone Falls</i>, ca.1881. Oil on canvas, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Taggart. 2.63

Gilcrease Museum and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, have partnered to present the groundbreaking exhibition Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West. Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) is best known as one of America’s premier western landscape artists. But he was also a renowned history painter, a rarely discussed element of his legacy. This exhibition will address Bierstadt’s depictions of Native cultures of the Great Plains and American bison, which he approached as key subjects for his art.

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Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West features 75 artworks from more than 30 private and institutional lenders. Both Gilcrease and the Center of the West are contributing masterworks from their collections. In addition to signature paintings by Bierstadt, the exhibition includes works by artists of Bierstadt’s time (and before) depicting both Native Americans and bison during a period of dramatic change in the West. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Bierstadt endeavored to convey moral messages with his paintings, and his works demonstrate the ways he approached conservation issues of his day. He attempted to honor the dignity of Native peoples in the West like the Sioux and Shoshone, and to inspire empathy for the remnant herds of bison in Yellowstone National Park as the species neared extinction.

Today, amid ongoing concerns around Native American sovereignty and environmental conservation, this timely exhibition addresses how these subjects have historically been treated by artists, the American people and government.

“By producing and curating this exhibition through a museum partnership, Gilcrease and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West combined forces to research Bierstadt’s work and secure significant loans of his major paintings,” said Laura Fry, senior curator at Gilcrease Museum and co-curator of the exhibition. “Witness to a Changing West is the first Bierstadt exhibition of this scale in more than 25 years and will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see these artworks together.”

Before traveling to Gilcrease, the exhibition is on view at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, from June 8 – September 30, 2018.

Albert Bierstadt: Environmentalist?

Albert Bierstadt: Witness to a Changing West

Hear more from Senior Curator and Curator of Art Laura Fry on why this is a must-see exhibition:

 

Gilcrease Museum’s 2019 exhibition season is sponsored by William S. Smith.

Generous support is also provided by C.W. Titus Foundation, The Helmerich Trust, Robin F. Ballenger, Arts Alliance Tulsa and the Gilcrease Council.