DAM: The Western An Epic in Art and Film
How many of you out there remember "The Western"? I'm sure there are still some of us around, but "The Western" as a movie genre has sort of faded into history. From the beginning of film and through the late 80's and early 90's, "The Western" was one of the most popular film genres in the United States. From John's Ford's "Stagecoach" to Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven", western movies were a significant piece of American pop culture. If you have any doubt about this, just look at the example of how Steven Spielberg used his love of the western to complete his forever popular "Back to the Future" movie series in the early 90's. One of Spielberg's idols and major influences growing up, was John Ford who many consider to be the father of the Western.
Some of my fondest memories growing up, are in fact centered around western movies. As a young boy, I will never forget staying up late on a Saturday night with my Dad, to watch a John Wayne classic like "Rio Bravo", "El Dorado", "The Son's of Katy Elder" and so many more. Before we had cable, we would adjust the rabbit ears to tune in our local UHF or VHF station that would run the old John Wayne or Clint Eastwood classics.
The Western, seems to have started dying out, as movies began to incorporate more and more special effects. While the late 80's and early 90's still brought us some great classics like "Pale Rider", "The Unforgiven" and even "Young Guns", technology, political correctness, and a general disinterest in the wild west, has led to an almost disappearance of what was once an American icon. In fact, I don't even think that "Western" is a category in Netflix, and if you search for westerns in Netflix you will only find a small number of these one time classic pieces of Americana.
Long gone are the days when all a film needed was a rugged hero, a good hat, a few guns and a horse, riding across some of the most beautiful scenery in the world to protect innocent people from some evil villain. No, the stories wen't always this simple and may not have been politically correct, but it was the story, the actors, the scenery and the film makers who came together to make great film and great art. The special effects and the technology didn't matter.
In fact, if you visit the DAM and see "The Western", you will see that the origins of western film can be traced back to art of media types other than film. Of course books,stories, and dime store novels, were a significant part of bringing the excitement of the west back to the east. As America tried to heal itself from the conflict of the civil war, many became infatuated with the colorful stories that came from the American West. Photography was just starting to evolve into a more common technology, but some of the great artists of the era were creating beautiful paintings and works that conveyed the excitement and beauty of this new found frontier.
The works of Charles Marion Russell, William Herbert Dunton, George Catlin, Eanger Erving Couse, Frederic Remington and others brought the pictures and scenery in full color with dramatic effect to those who could not travel there. This art, later had an effect on early film making and influenced the "The Western" as it was filmed and created in the mid 20th century. John Ford was greatly effected by this art and was not just known as an ordinary film director, but a "picturemaker". When asked about his work, John Ford said, "I tried to copy the Remington style... at least I tried to get in his color and movement." When you take a look at the pieces of art and the films side by side, you can definitely see the relationship between them and the influence the artwork had on these great films.
By exploring "The Western" at the Denver Art Museum, you can see this relationship and the progression from traditional art media to film. You start with paintings and sculptures from the late 1800s to the turn of the century. You will then see some of the early film work of John Ford and others. Following along to the height of the western in the 60's to 70's, you get to see Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns. This part of the gallery has a very cool feature with large 360 degree video screens and sound that place you in the middle of one of Clint Eastwood's most famous gun fights in the movie "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly".
The tour then moves on to explore what they have called "Counter Culture Westerns. They have their roots in the western genre but they don't really conform to the normal time and settings. Some of the films they explore include "Easy Rider","The Wild Bunch" and "Pat Garret & Billy The Kid". This part also includes a great Warhol piece that normally spends its' time in one of the other DAM galleries.
The exhibit ends with a mixture of things from all different eras of the western. It includes some short videos, some paintings and displays and a montage of some more modern western films.
Being a huge fan of westerns, I really enjoyed this exhibit and I think most anyone would be interested in what it has to offer. If you have never been exposed to "The Western", who knows this just might spark your interest. As always you can find out more about it from the website at:
www.denverartmuseum.org
Some of my fondest memories growing up, are in fact centered around western movies. As a young boy, I will never forget staying up late on a Saturday night with my Dad, to watch a John Wayne classic like "Rio Bravo", "El Dorado", "The Son's of Katy Elder" and so many more. Before we had cable, we would adjust the rabbit ears to tune in our local UHF or VHF station that would run the old John Wayne or Clint Eastwood classics.
The Western, seems to have started dying out, as movies began to incorporate more and more special effects. While the late 80's and early 90's still brought us some great classics like "Pale Rider", "The Unforgiven" and even "Young Guns", technology, political correctness, and a general disinterest in the wild west, has led to an almost disappearance of what was once an American icon. In fact, I don't even think that "Western" is a category in Netflix, and if you search for westerns in Netflix you will only find a small number of these one time classic pieces of Americana.
Long gone are the days when all a film needed was a rugged hero, a good hat, a few guns and a horse, riding across some of the most beautiful scenery in the world to protect innocent people from some evil villain. No, the stories wen't always this simple and may not have been politically correct, but it was the story, the actors, the scenery and the film makers who came together to make great film and great art. The special effects and the technology didn't matter.
In fact, if you visit the DAM and see "The Western", you will see that the origins of western film can be traced back to art of media types other than film. Of course books,stories, and dime store novels, were a significant part of bringing the excitement of the west back to the east. As America tried to heal itself from the conflict of the civil war, many became infatuated with the colorful stories that came from the American West. Photography was just starting to evolve into a more common technology, but some of the great artists of the era were creating beautiful paintings and works that conveyed the excitement and beauty of this new found frontier.
The works of Charles Marion Russell, William Herbert Dunton, George Catlin, Eanger Erving Couse, Frederic Remington and others brought the pictures and scenery in full color with dramatic effect to those who could not travel there. This art, later had an effect on early film making and influenced the "The Western" as it was filmed and created in the mid 20th century. John Ford was greatly effected by this art and was not just known as an ordinary film director, but a "picturemaker". When asked about his work, John Ford said, "I tried to copy the Remington style... at least I tried to get in his color and movement." When you take a look at the pieces of art and the films side by side, you can definitely see the relationship between them and the influence the artwork had on these great films.
By exploring "The Western" at the Denver Art Museum, you can see this relationship and the progression from traditional art media to film. You start with paintings and sculptures from the late 1800s to the turn of the century. You will then see some of the early film work of John Ford and others. Following along to the height of the western in the 60's to 70's, you get to see Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns. This part of the gallery has a very cool feature with large 360 degree video screens and sound that place you in the middle of one of Clint Eastwood's most famous gun fights in the movie "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly".
The tour then moves on to explore what they have called "Counter Culture Westerns. They have their roots in the western genre but they don't really conform to the normal time and settings. Some of the films they explore include "Easy Rider","The Wild Bunch" and "Pat Garret & Billy The Kid". This part also includes a great Warhol piece that normally spends its' time in one of the other DAM galleries.
The exhibit ends with a mixture of things from all different eras of the western. It includes some short videos, some paintings and displays and a montage of some more modern western films.
Being a huge fan of westerns, I really enjoyed this exhibit and I think most anyone would be interested in what it has to offer. If you have never been exposed to "The Western", who knows this just might spark your interest. As always you can find out more about it from the website at:
www.denverartmuseum.org
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