Amon Carter Museum of American Art

As many times as I'd driven back and forth through Texas to El Paso, I'd never stopped at the Amon Carter Museum.  Philip Johnson's design showcases the view of the skyline of Fort Worth, a "cow" town in comparison to Dallas, its more bourgeois neighbor to the east.

The building's facade recalls Lincoln Center, built during the same era.  Three Henry Moore "Upright Motive" sculptures sit atop the pedestal, also visible through the window.

 

Mr. Carter, a visionary press baron who loved the work of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, didn't live to see the opening in 1961.  Here's what he had to say about his hometown:   "Fort Worth is where the West begins...and Dallas is where the East peters out."

Amon Carter by Scott Gentling

Initially, the place was called the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art. His daughter Ruth greatly expanded the collection.  Our visit got me thinking about the term "regional" art.

"The Sergeant" by Frederic Remington (1904)

Guards at the museum seem more personally invested in the art than those I've encountered in New York.  Woody, seen here with "A Dash for the Timber," a Remington masterpiece, said Carter acquired it for just $5000.  He also told us a lengthy tale about another work that sounded as if it had inspired "The Searchers," John Ford's epic film, and one whose premise and casting certainly wouldn't fly today.

Maybe it's my Lone Star State roots, but I wonder why "western art" doesn't get more love from the critical establishment, including historians.  It can't be a question of talent.  I mean look at this!

"The Right of the Road-A Hazardous Encounter on a Rocky Mountain Trail" by Frederic Remington (1900)

Aren't Remington and Russell as good as the European masters?

"Loops and Swift Horses Are Surer than Lead" by Charles M. Russell (1916)

Perhaps their swagger had something to do with it.  Russell didn't depict himself as a suffering, starving artist, that's for sure.

"Charlie Himself" by Charles M. Russell (ca 1927-1928)

The Native Americans depicted in the museum's paintings--at least those on exhibit--weren't the kind portrayed in "The Searchers" although all were painted by white men.

"Bringing Home the Meat" by Charles M. Russell (1891-96)

"Ballplay of the Dakota on the St. Peters River in Winter by Seth Eastman (1848)

"Crow Creek Agency, D.T. by William Fuller (1884)

But back to regional art.  Both Thom and I were bowled over by the work of the Scott Gentling whose work has been described as "imagined realism."  His subjects included Aztec culture, portraits (including Amon Carter, above) and birds.  He and his fraternal twin, Stuart, spent most of their lives working on their art in Fort Worth.  While they considered it the perfect way station between Los Angeles and New York, it also meant that they never got the recognition they deserved. 

"Palace of Moctezuma II" by Scott Gentling (ca 2005)

Painting controversial Republican Presidents probably didn't help.

George Bush Gubernatorial Portrait by Scott Gentling (ca 2002)

Yet Scott's portraits over two decades of a Texas sharecropper and his wife are imbued with just as much dignity.

 

"Eddy" by Scott Gentling (1965)

We spent a happy hour enjoying the museum's varied collection.

"Buffalo" by Henry Merwin Shrady (1899)

"Conversation Sky and Earth" by Charles Sheeler (1940)

Look carefully and you'll see an airplane going down.  It crashed in 1933.

"West Texas Incident" by Everett Spruce (1937)

The modern art seemed a little out of place.  It's mostly confined to an extension of the museum completed in 2001.

"Plexus No. 34" by Gabriel Dawe (2016)

"A Beautiful Despair" by Anila Quayyum Agha (2021)