Synopses & Reviews
In 2010, the Anschutz Collection became the American Museum of Western Artand#151;The Anschutz Collection, a public museum.
Painters and the American West, Volume II is a companion and sequel to the award-winning
Painters and the American West: The Anschutz Collection, published in 2000. The present volume includes the finest works featured in the earlier book, along with major recent acquisitions by Alfred Jacob Miller, Charles Deas, William Ranney, Emanuel Leutze, Thomas Eakins, Thomas Anshutz, Henry Farny, N. C. Wyeth, William Herbert and#147;Buckand#8221; Dunton, Edward Hopper, and many others.
In the foreword to this book, Sarah Hunt, director of the museum, tells the story of the Anschutz Collectionand#8217;s transition from a closely held treasure to an educational and esthetic resource for Denver and western art enthusiasts everywhere. In the bookand#8217;s introductory essay, distinguished scholar and curator John Wilmerding provides cultural and literary context for the museumand#8217;s holdings, which include exemplary works by virtually every significant painter of the American West from the 1820s through the mid-twentieth century. Historical essays by acclaimed historian James P. Ronda introduce the six chapters of the book, setting the stage for in-depth examinations of individual masterworks by Joan Carpenter Troccoli.
Scholars have brought new insight to western American art in the past decade, and the European view of the westering experience as a defining characteristic of American history and culture is beginning to take hold among art historians on this side of the Atlantic. Western American art is shedding its outsider status and assuming its rightful place as an integral component of the history of American artand#151;and American life. The 150 masterful images from over a century of painting that are showcased in this book expand our understanding of the place of the American West in the story of humankind.
Synopsis
Painters and the American West, Volume II is a companion and sequel to the award-winning Painters and the American West: The Anschutz Collection, published in 2000. The present volume includes the finest works featured in the earlier book, along with major recent acquisitions by Alfred Jacob Miller, Charles Deas, William Ranney, Emanuel Leutze, Thomas Eakins, Thomas Anshutz, Henry Farny, N. C. Wyeth, William Herbert and#8220;Buckand#8221; Dunton, Edward Hopper, and many others.
About the Author
Joan Carpenter Troccoli retired as Senior Scholar of the Petrie Institute of Western American Art of the Denver Art Museum in June 2012. She is the Founding Director of the Petrie Institute of Western American Art, Denver Art Museum, a position in which she served from 2001-05. From 1996-2001, she was Deputy Director of the Denver Art Museum. Before coming to Denver in 1995, she was a Curator of Art and subsequently Director of Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She holds a B. A. from Middlebury College and master's and doctoral degrees from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.Sarah A. Hunt is director of the American Museum of Western Artand#8212;The Anschutz Collection. She holds a BA in history with a focus on American art from Princeton University and earned her JD at the Stanford University School of Law. Ms. Hunt has published essays on American western art, and she contributed a history of the Anschutz Collection to Painters and the American West: The Anschutz Collection (2000).
James P. Ronda, H. G. Barnard Professor of History, emeritus, University of Tulsa, is widely recognized for his extensive scholarship on the Lewis and Clark expedition, including the pathbreaking Lewis and Clark Among the Indians. He is also a distinguished historian of the early American fur trade, Astoria and Empire. Professor Rondaand#8217;s recent publications include The West the Railroads Made.John Wilmerding is Sarofim Professor of American art, emeritus, Princeton University. He has served as a visiting curator in the Department of American Art of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and as senior curator and deputy director of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where he is currently chairman of the Board of Trustees. A noted scholar of American art and cultural studies, Professor Wilmerding is the author of monographs on Fitz Henry Lane, John F. Peto, Winslow Homer, and Thomas Eakins.