Exhibitions/ The American West in Bronze, 1850–1925/ American West in Bronze Exhibition Blog/ Welcome to The American West in Bronze

Welcome to The American West in Bronze

Welcome to the exhibition blog for The American West in Bronze, 1850–1925. In weekly postings throughout the run of the exhibition, we'll explore specific sculptures and general themes; meet scholars who contributed to the project and some of the participants in related public programs; and take a look behind the scenes at the complicated process of putting together a loan exhibition. The blog will be moderated by Shannon Vittoria, who will also respond to comments and questions.

Assembling an exhibition of this scale is a marathon, not a sprint. Long before the works are installed and the banner hung on the Met's facade, years of planning have taken place. Our story begins back in 2008 when a group of American sculpture scholars and collectors started traveling together to look at bronze statuettes with western themes. From Cody, Wyoming, to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to Orange, Texas, we visited public and private collections, closely examining casts—both the visible surfaces and undersides—with our cameras and flashlights, measuring tapes, and magnifying glasses. Looking at so many bronzes with some of the best trained sculpture eyes around was a shared revelation. Out of these travels came a preliminary loan list and even, happily, a marriage.

Frederic Remington, The Broncho Buster (two casts)

Frederic Remington (American, 1861–1909). Left: The Broncho Buster, 1895 (cast by 1898). Bronze, 23 3/4 x 21 1/8 x 11 7/8 in. (60.3 x 53.7 x 30.2 cm), Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Oyster Bay, New York (SAHI-918); Right: The Broncho Buster, 1895 (cast 1906). Bronze, 22 5/8 x 22 3/4 x 15 1/4 in. (57.5 x 57.8 x 38.7 cm), The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Hogg Brothers Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg (43.73)

The Metropolitan's presentation of this exhibition includes sixty-five bronzes. Most bronze statuettes are issued as multiples, rather than unique casts, so one of our biggest challenges was to decide which ones to request for loan. Relying on photographs, visual memory, and existing scholarship, we selected what we consider the highest quality examples. In the case of Frederic Remington's The Broncho Buster (above), with an authorized edition of more than 275, we couldn't stop at one, and selected two to highlight the visible alterations that occur from cast to cast. When you visit the exhibition, whenever possible walk around the sculptures and enjoy them in 360 degrees. Looking at sculpture is not a static process; it requires movement to take in narrative as it unfolds over three dimensions and to relish details of texture and patina.

The development of the fine arts bronze casting industry in the United States about 1850 is one of the major narratives of the exhibition, which we will explore in greater detail in an upcoming post. The other major thread is how the twenty-eight sculptors represented in the exhibition convey life in the western states and territories during a time of tremendous societal transformation, from Euro-American settlement to relocation of American Indians to government reservation land. Every artist brought his or her own personal experience of living and traveling in the West to bear on these works; some grew up there, some were immigrants to this country. Following an introductory section, the show (and its accompanying catalogue) is organized into four broad themes: American Indians, wildlife, cowboys, and settlers. Each of the selected objects explicates these themes, and each can be appreciated on multiple levels: as an interpretation of western ways of life, as a personal expression of the artist, and as a bronze sculpture.

Solon Hannibal Borglum, Bulls Fighting

Solon Hannibal Borglum (American, 1868–1922). Bulls Fighting, 1899–1900 (cast 1906–7). Bronze, 4 1/4 × 20 1/2 × 2 3/8 in. (10.8 × 52.1 × 6 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1907 (07.105)

Consider, for instance, Solon Hannibal Borglum's Bulls Fighting (above), small in scale, but otherwise large and resonant. The piece rewards close inspection because at first glance one might not notice that this intraspecies combat features a wild Texas longhorn and a shorter stouthorn. The animals clash, the force of impact resonant with Old West versus New West symbolism. Borglum intended the group as emblematic of the transition from longhorn cattle as beef supply to domesticated steers, which yielded greater quantities of meat—a triumph of commercial breeding over natural selection. He grew up in the West and worked as a Nebraska rancher, so his sculptures were based on first-hand experience. He earned the moniker "Sculptor of the Prairie," when studying in Paris, where this sculpture was completed. While the subject is all about the American West, the impressionistic modeling technique reflects up-to-date French training, a synthesis of Old World meeting New World often encapsulated in these sculptures. Furthermore, this cast of Bulls Fighting was made by Roman Bronze Works, a preeminent New York foundry, after it was commissioned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was systematically collecting contemporary American sculpture.

I hope this one example of the multiplicities these objects reveal will entice you to follow this blog, to visit the exhibition, and most of all, to see bronze sculpture in an expanded way.


Department: The American Wing

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