THE LEARNING CURVE Fall 2008
Art History, Archaeology, Astronomy, History, Literature, Philosophy, Music

Artists of the West
Remington, Russell and Dixon

Artists as observers played a large part in the settlement of the lands beyond the Mississippi.  Frederick Remington, Charles Russell and Maynard Dixon became chroniclers of the inhabitants, the culture and the landscape of the West.  Remington and Russell were active when visual presentations were produced only by painters and engravers. Dixon captured more recent changes in the West from San Francisco to Tucson.

Week 1: Frederick Remington, Storyteller of the West
Remington left a Western legacy in illustration, paint and bronze.  He established his reputation as an illustrator with prints in Century, Harpers and Colliers. It has been said that he defined the soldier, the cowboy, the rancher, the Indian, the horse and the cattle of the plains.

Week 2:  Charles Marion Russell, Word Painter Russell worked as a real cowboy.  He arrived just in time to witness the demise of the Old West: the final slaughter of the great buffalo herds, the destruction of the natural grasslands and the proliferation of plows and barbed wire.  In his paintings, sketches and writings he attempted to recapture America’s innocence in the wilderness of Montana before the “trails were plowed under.” 

Week 3:  Maynard Dixon, Tucson’s Own
Dixon’s Western vision was the vastness and the freedom that the West inspired. Living in California, he had to “travel East to see the West.”  His wastelands had color: the opalescent ranges of desert, the giant purple clouds of a storm piled far above the mountains, the cottonwoods as they turn from green to shiny yellow gold in the distance.  His people reflected the cultural mix of the American West in the 20th century.  

Week 4: Guided Tour of “A Place of Refuge: Maynard Dixon’s Arizona” at the Tucson Museum of Art. Tracing the artist’s sojourns into Arizona beginning in 1900, this exhibition will be the first to focus solely on the renowned painter’s depictions of Arizona subjects. “A Place of Refuge” will include approximately 60 paintings and 50 drawings.

When: Tuesdays, Oct 14 - Nov 4, 10:00am-12:00pm
Where: The Windmill Inn, 4250 N. Campbell Ave. (Weeks 1-3)
Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave. (Week 4)
Cost:  $95 (4 sessions, includes museum entrance fee)

Instructor:
Penny David, Ph.D., Professor of Humanities and Theater, served on the faculty of Western Michigan University and has lectured throughout the United States and abroad, delighting her students and bringing new insights to familiar subjects. She has published extensively and has a special interest in the life and work of Mark Twain.

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