The very first thing we came upon was a model of artist Olaf Wieghorst's studio, stocked to the brim with Native American objects. Wieghorst, an immigrant from Denmark, was a mounted patrolman for the U.S. Cavalry, drawing and sketching wherever he went, and eventually settled outside of San Diego.
This studio is reminiscent to me of the "Indian corner" so popular in the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century: basically a hodgepodge of objects from varying tribes which came to symbolize a monolithic Indian "type." These objects are reduced to decoration, a means of homogenizing and anesthetizing Native American culture.
The main collection at the Gilcrease is called "Dreams and Visions: The American West and the Legacy of Imagination," which relates perfectly to our class. An incredible breadth of artists are represented, including many famous names and images recognizable to even non-art history students.
Almost immediately into the exhibit, we were greeted by a monumental Thomas Moran painting, "Shoshone Falls." The sheer size of the image is staggering, as well as its subject matter--violent, turbulent waters crashing over a cliff, with thunderheads rolling in the distance over a craggy outcrop. It's strange to look at it as a sort of booster image "advertising" the west; no people around, just nature's majesty and the freedom of an uncivilized territory, as seen through white eyes.
Many landscapes, devoid of people, populate the walls of the Gilcrease. The emphasis on quiet, open spaces, big skies, dense forest, rushing water, vivid color and golden light speak to the perceived utopia of the American West.
No comments:
Post a Comment