Sid Richardson Museum Celebrates 40th Anniversary

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Sid Richardson Museum celebrates 40th
The Cowboy painting by Remington photo courtesy Sid Richardson Museum

The Sid Richardson Museum celebrates 40 years of serving the Fort Worth community with art of the American West. “Night & Day: Frederic Remington’s Final Decade” exhibition of rare artwork from the final decade of the iconic Western artist’s life, is on display Sept. 24-April 23, 2023. Included works range from 1900 to 1909, the year that Remington died from appendicitis complications at only 48. He created Western scenes using impressionist painting techniques.

“Remington’s ability to capture light in his canvases through his handling of color and paint application is central to his final body of work,” said Scott Winterrowd, Director of the Sid Richardson Museum. “We’re thrilled to culminate our anniversary year with an exhibit spotlighting the strengths of the museum’s permanent collection alongside important loans from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and private collectors.”

Prints made after paintings that were previously destroyed by the artist are also on view. Remington destroyed well over 100 works that did not satisfy his new artistic standards. In 1908, the artist recorded nearly 30 canvases, listing them in a personal diary as “burned up,” including three works cited, “redone, 1908.” Many of the destroyed works were preserved through half-tone reproductions published by Collier’s magazine. The inclusion of these images in the exhibition offers guests the opportunity to compare them with modified and remade compositions Remington produced in his final years.

Remington Bronzes

An installation of Remington’s bronzes rounds out the presentation. Remington’s Revisions in Bronze shows side-by-side sculpture subjects he remade with different finishes in varying sizes. Remington employed the lost wax casting process in creating his bronzes allowing him to rework the wax model each time a sculpture was cast. The encrusted textures of the sculptures closely resemble the thickly painted surfaces of his canvases made between 1907 and 1909.

The Norther
The Norther bronze by Remington; photo courtesy Sid Richardson Museum

Editor’s Note by MARLON HANSON, Focus Daily News Publisher
The Remington paintings and sculptors bring back fond memories of my days at the Dallas Times Herald with my favorite publisher there, Tom McCartin. He loved Remington and had sculptures and photos in his office and throughout the first floor executive conclave of offices at he newspaper.

Exhibition programming kicks off October 7 with a lecture by art historian, Dr. Mark Thistlethwaite, titled From Illustrator to Fine Artist: Frederic Remington’s Final Frontier. Additional programming includes the Tea & Talk series, in-person lectures, a book program focusing on the American West, and trivia nights. For details, visit sidrichardsonmuseum.org/programs.

Sid Richardson Museum

The Sid Richardson Museum, a Fort Worth art museum located in historic Sundance Square, features permanent and special exhibitions of paintings by the premier Western artists, Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. The works, reflecting both the romance and reality of the American West, are the legacy of the late oilman and philanthropist, Sid Williams Richardson. Most were acquired by him from 1942 until his death in 1959. The collection also includes works by Oscar E. Berninghaus, Charles F. Browne, Edwin W. Deming, William Gilbert Gaul, Peter Hurd, Frank Tenney Johnson, William R. Leigh, Peter Moran, and Charles Schreyvogel.

Admission to the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth’s Sundance Square is always free. For directions and hours, visit sidrichardsonmuseum.org.