Art of the West: Selected Works from the Autry Museum ed. by Amy Scott (review)

Splendidly illustrated and richly varied in perspective, this catalogue represents a timely revision of the Autry Museum of the American West. Originally founded in 1988 by famed Western actor and businessman Gene Autry, the museum has progressively reckoned with the imperialist ideology that once defined frontier culture. Edited by the Autry's chief curator, Amy Scott, this collection of fourteen short essays models more inclusive and critical perspectives of an important collection of art that includes John Gast's iconic 1872 painting, American Progress. That title is apt; as Stephen Aron, the original director of the Autry's Research Institute, writes in his foreword, "Almost from its inception, the Autry Museum was a work in progress" (ix). Having merged with several other museums over the years, the Autry recently reimagined its mission around concepts like "convergence," reframing "the American West as an interwoven tapestry of cultures and peoples" (x).

Art of the West puts this most recent incarnation on display while also tracking the evolution of interpretive methods. Prior skirmishes in western historiography echo in Scott's lucid introduction, "The Art of the Shared West," chief among them the mythbusting 1991 Smithsonian exhibition, The West as America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820–1920. One of that show's curators, art historian Alexander Nemerov, contributes an engrossing essay ("The Imp; or, The Madness of Charles Deas"), as does distinguished historian Brian W. Dippie, who reflects on dominant western tropes and their arc within the museum. A case in point: the Autry's gallery once titled "Spirit of Romance" now features three themes—"Religion and Ritual," "Land and Landscape," and "Migration and Movement"—that reappear as section titles for the beautiful color plates in the catalogue.

The other texts do their part bucking manifest destiny for multiculturalism. Vital indigenous voices and materials emerge, including in Nancy Marie Mithlo's take on the painting of Harry Fonseca, and Lois S. Dubin's explication of Blackfeet, Sioux, and Pawnee beadworks in Great Plains equestrian cultures. On other topics, one wishes for more. There is scant reference to how the Hollywood wealth that built this Los Angeles museum (mis)represented various "Wests" and their origins. And while compelling stories from disparate geographies arise, the texts can seem too brief or too broad in scope. Even a survey catalogue of this kind could benefit from a bit more thematic "convergence." That said, the diverse viewpoints and artworks in this volume remain resounding strengths. Art of the West is both a handsome tribute to the Autry Museum's past and a symbol of its expanding politics toward western art and culture.