MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS NATIONWIDE

Amon Carter Museum of American Art
"Romance Maker: The Watercolors of Charles M. Russell"
February 11 through May 13, 2012

More than 100 excellent examples of watercolors by Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) will be featured in this special exhibition. Organized by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the museum calls these works, which have never been seen together as a group,  "unforgettable images of the mythic American frontier."

Denver Art Museum
"Mud to Masterpiece: Mexican Colonial Ceramics"
Through November 13, 2012

This exhibit explores the interaction between the artisans of the New World and Old World and highlights the resulting evolution of styles. During a three-hundred year span, 1521 to 1821, the ancient Mexican ceramic art of unglazed, low-fired earthenware was exported to Spain where it became quite fashionable. In return, Spanish artists . . .

CONTINUE: introduced the potter’s wheel to Mexico along with high-fired hard glazes, producing a pottery known as majolica. Trade brought Chinese porcelain to Mexico and its decorative motifs influenced both native earthenware and Mexican majolica. More than 30 pieces of Chinese porcelain, Mexican earthenware, and Mexican majolica will be exhibited alongside Mexican colonial paintings that depict the use of ceramics in daily life. (from the Denver Art Museum website)

Phoenix Art Museum
"Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century"
Through April 29, 2012

The exhibition explores the many facets of the design philosophy of this master American architect and highlights some of his most ground-breaking buildings, including Unity Temple in Oak Park, IL, Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA, Taliesin in Spring Green, WI, and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ.

The Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA
The Autry National Center was formed in 2003 when the Autry Museum of Western Heritage merged with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian and the Women of the West Museum.

"The Roath Collection" Ongoing
The Roath Collection showcases works from one of the most extensive private collections of Western American art, featuring more than 100 works that span the period of a century, from 1870 to 1970. Among the artists featured are Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington and Henry Farny. Highlights from the collection also include art of the American Southwest, including examples of work by the Taos Society of Artists. From the Roath Collection, the museum has selected 65 works that will be displayed in the permanent galleries for Western American art.

The Autry in Griffith Park

"The Art of Native American Basketry: A Living Tradition" Through May 6, 2012
In the Showcase Gallery:  Baskets from more than 100 cultures are arranged by geographic region. The baskets represent a selection of artworks from the world's largest collection of Native American baskets.

"The Art of Native American Basketry" is drawn from the nearly 14,000 baskets in the Autry's Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, considered to be one of the premier holdings of its kind in the world. More than 250 objects are on view, ranging in size from small Pomo feather baskets made for sale to tourists, to massive Apache olla baskets used for storing large quantities of seeds. Because the works shown have been selected from a remarkably wide-ranging and distinguished collection, visitors are able to see how the materials, techniques, and designs of the baskets vary from region to region, reflecting different physical environments and traditions. Also evident are the distinctive styles of individual artists, whose signatures can be instantly recognizable to other weavers. The Autry invited thirteen contemporary basketweavers to serve as consultants in the exhibition's research and planning and purchased a basket from each consultant to add to the permanent collection." (from the Autry Museum website)

The Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, Florida
"Style & Grace: The Michael & Marilyn Mennello Collection"
Through Sunday, March 18th

"Style & Grace" is an exhibition featuring more than 50 works of art from the collection of Michael and Marilyn Mennello. Developed over a thirty year period, the Mennello's focused on works by American artists of the American Impressionist movement during the 19th and 20th centuries. Included in the collection are works by Robert Henri, George Bellows, John White Alexander, Henry Salem Hubbell and Milton Avery.