Human Nature

Human / Nature: Artists as Explorers in the Early American West

The mythology of The West began with humans, nature, and human nature.

Long before "The West", "Manifest Destiny", or "The Pioneer Spirit", there was the land and its inhabitants. Though home to millions of Native Americans, the land yet unexplored by Europeans and white Americans was considered exotic and foreign. It held the promise of adventure and wealth. Yet the vastness and difficulty of the terrain intimidated all but the most intrepid explorers.

As governments and private companies took interest in what lay beyond European settlements in the East, military and corporate exploratory parties set out to document uncharted territories. In the days before photography, European-trained artists traveled with these early explorers of The West to visually catalogue the landscape, cultures, and animals they encountered.

These artists were responsible for documenting the new frontier and its inhabitants in ways that would encourage further exploration and settlement by European-Americans. From simple maps and portraits of Native people to idealized landscapes, the mysteries of "The West" were unveiled, the mythology launched, and the settlement of it begun.