In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Whitney Western Art Museum in 2008, artist Ted Waddell donated a large painting titled, Red Lodge Horses. Turns out it was also in honor of his 50-year painting career as well. Karen McWhorter, the curator of the Whitney, said the painting is an abstract depiction of horses in a […]
The Whitney Western Art Museum has a studio collection of Joseph Henry Sharp. He is best known as a Tao Society artist, but he also spent time in Montana. Karen McWhorter, the museum’s curator, said he spent his winters in Montana and his summers in New Mexico. He built a cabin in Crow Agency. “It […]
Museum curators often receive public inquiries, and sometimes an outside person can be very helpful to gaining better insight on a painting or object in the museum. For Karen McWhorter, the curator of the Whitney Western Art Museum, a call from a professor made her look at George Catlin’s “Mandan-View of the Missouri Above the […]
When a visitor enters the Whitney Western Art Museum one sculpture might confuse the visitor. Choosing of the Arrow by Henry Kirke Brown might remind people not of the West, but of a classic European sculpture. But Karen McWhorter, the curator of the museum, said it’s actually the first bronze cast made in America in […]
Frederic Remington was a famous painter who was known for his depiction of the American West. But Karen McWhorter, the curator of the Whitney Western Art Museum, said at the end of his life his style changed. In his earlier years he was focused on accurate depiction and clarity of line, but McWhorter said this […]
In the 1820s, Native American diplomats traveled to Washington D.C. to negotiate peace deals with Americans. During that time period, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Thomas L. McKenney, commissioned portraits of hundreds of American Indian leaders. Karen McWhorter, the curator of the Whitney Western Art Museum, said McKenney commissioned the painter Charles Bird King but […]