Collector's Perspective Part II

Rockwell Museum of Western Art Presents A Collector's Perspective, Part II

January 15, 2004

Robert F. Rockwell II, founding donor of the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in Corning, New York, spent several decades collecting art that tells the story of the Western frontier. Now, the museum is proud to present the second part of a special exhibition of paintings and bronzes from the permanent collection, personally selected by Bob Rockwell to capture the spirit of the Old West. The exhibition, called A Collector's Perspective, Part II, includes works by Frederic Remington, Charles Russell, Carl Rungius, and members of the Taos Society of Artists.

A Collector's Perspective, Part II, runs from January 12 through March 31, 2004 at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. The special exhibition is open during regular museum hours, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., seven days a week. Museum admission is $6.50 for adults and $5.50 for seniors. Children 17 and under are admitted free of charge.

To celebrate the opening of A Collector's Perspective, Part II, the museum will host a special reception for members on Wednesday, January 28 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Members will have a unique opportunity to see the exhibits in the company of Bob Rockwell, while enjoying cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and background music by the Tumbleweeds. At 6:15 p.m., this guitar playing duo of Bryan Lanahan and Bryan "BJ" Lanahan, Jr. will invite visitors to circle up for a performance of cowboy classics. The audience will be invited to sing along with old favorites.

"The music is marvelous stuff from the 30s and 40s. Cold Water, Empty Saddles, Ghost Riders in the Sky," says Bryan Lanahan. "It is very traditional and it reflects Bob's view of Western art. BJ and I are doing this because we love Western music, and we love Bob."

The opening reception is for members only, and is free of charge. For reservations and membership information, call 607-974-2333.

The public will have an opportunity to hear more about Bob Rockwell's perspectives on the art at an informal Coffee and Conversation on February 10 at 10:00 a.m., in the Remington and Russell Lodge. Bob's insights about the art and the artists, as well as his own adventures and the friendships he made as he built his renowned collection, paint a picture themselves of a special period of art history. The Coffee and Conversation are free to members. The cost for not-yet-members is $6.50 for adults and $5.50 for seniors. Reservations are required, as space is limited. Call 974-2333 for more information.

Like the first part of this two-part exhibition, A Collector's Perspective, Part II reflects Bob Rockwell's personal choices for the best of this genre from the museum's collection. He chose these pieces because they convey the grandeur of the West, and tell important stories about life on the vanishing frontier. At the same time, Rockwell finds the lives of the artists equally heroic, and inseparable from their work. Frederic Remington's romantic illustrations of cowboy life reflected what he discovered on his own travels through the West. Charlie Russell's drawings of the frontier presented both light-hearted and serious subjects which he knew from his own experiences. Carl Rungius' paintings have preserved images of the majestic landscapes and big game animals the artist admired as a hunter and artist in the West. The works of these artists, and the many others represented in A Collector's Perspective, Part II, reflect Bob Rockwell's own view of a West he loved, the place he was raised and returned to again and again after settling in Corning.

"I want people to understand all this greatness," says Rockwell. "The men, the rivers, the big game animals, the mountains. No country in the world has had a more interesting history than our American West. The art of the West has a special meaning to it."

Bob Rockwell has been showing Corning audiences images of this West since the mid-1960s, when he began exhibiting works from his Western art collection at the Rockwell Department Store on Market Street. In 1975, he donated a large number of items from his collection to form the Rockwell Museum in partnership with Corning Incorporated, then Corning Glass Works. The museum's first home was in the Baron Steuben building on Market Street. In 1982, the Rockwell Museum moved to its present location in the renovated Corning City Hall. The Museum underwent a second renovation during 2000-2001 and reopened as the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in May 2001. The Museum is grateful for the financial support of its members, donors, and Corning Incorporated, and for public funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, all of whom have contributed to expanding the collection since Bob Rockwell's initial donation.

The Rockwell Museum of Western Art today owns one of the largest and finest collections of Western American art in the Eastern United States and provides the public with a chance to see the Best of the West in the East. All of the Rockwell Museum's exhibits and services - galleries, events, art packs, Trading Post gift shop, Kids' West play area, and the adjacent Cantina - reflect the people, places, and ideas of the West, immersing visitors in an authentic Western experience.

The Rockwell Museum of Western Art is located at the corner of Cedar Street and Denison Parkway in Corning, just one block from historic Market Street. It is open seven days a week. Now through April 30, hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. seven days a week. Directions and further information can be found by calling 607-937-5386.