Originally posted to the web in News, on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 4:32 PM CDT.
‘Rascals’ to open Museum’s 48th season
Wickenburg, AZ -- Wickenburg’s Desert Caballeros Western Museum will celebrate its 48th season with the opening of an exhibition that pulls back the curtain on Hollywood’s version of the American cowboy to show off the real thing.
Entitled “Ropers, Wranglers & Rascals: The Real American Cowboy,” the new and revealing exhibition which opens Saturday (Nov. 3) consists of more than 50 paintings and sculptures teased away from local and national museums as well as private collectors and brought to Wickenburg. Each was specially selected to show off the rough and tough lives of the men who invented the term Wild West - cowboys who herded cattle in both blizzards and scorching heat, started fights and ended shootouts, drank the town dry and romanced dance hall girls.
“This exhibition really separates the men from the boys, the wannabes from the real thing,” said Royce Kardinal, the Museum’s executive director. “While the life could be brutal for those who lived it, the incredible beauty of the country and the courage of these Westerners are central to the artwork which preserves not only a period of time, but a legacy.”
Art that tells stories
“Rascals is a survey of the Western icon we know as the American cowboy, ranging from such early artists as Fredric Remington and Charles Russell to their contemporary colleagues in the Cowboy Artists of America (CAA),” explained Museum Curator Mary Ann Igna. The show’s highlights include Russell’s “Where the Best of Riders Quits,” a sculpture once presented to President Warren G. Harding; and a relatively new sculpture entitled “Someone to Ride the River With,” created by Prescott’s John Coleman, an award-winning CAA artist.
Paintings and a sculpture by R. Farrington Elwell dramatically reflect the three categories -- ropers, wranglers and rascals -- featured in the exhibition’s title. The bronze entitled “Sunfishers” definitely tells a story about the rigors of working as a wrangler! “A Rope on a Wild One on MB Ranch, Arizona” and “Foiled” focus on the trials and tribulations encountered whether taming cattle or robbing a bank.
“It’s also fascinating to see how two artists of different eras and cultures envision the same subject matter,” said Igna. “With the Remington and Luis Jiminez paintings in the exhibition, both entitled “Vaquero,” we are able to see two widely different, though totally valid, interpretations of this complex Western icon.”
Special events planned
A special celebration is planned for the exhibition’s opening night this Friday (Nov. 2). Adding to the fun of seeing this bold and vibrant show will be lots of cold beer, shots poured neat, a real Western spread, and plenty of live, toe-tapping music. Slated for 5:30 to 7 p.m., the tariff is $50 dollars for members and $75 for non-members.
“While we’re offering a look at the real American cowboy - the one who never set foot on a movie set - Hollywood has its own special vision of this American icon,” said Kardinal. “We’re very pleased to have Michael Duchemin, senior curator at the Autry National Center, coming to present ‘Gene Autry and the Twentieth-Century West.’” Scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m., the Duchemin lecture is free to DCWM members and $10 for non- members. To make reservations for Rascal’s opening night festivities and/or the Autry lecture, call 684-2272, ext. 100.
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