Amon Carter Museum of American Art

Today we ventured into Ft. Worth for a little culture at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. There are amazing museums and things to do in both Dallas and Ft. Worth, although if you asked Amon Carter, the for whom the museum was named, you'd think that Dallas was a pit stop on the highway of life. Ha! I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Amon G Carter was the creator and publisher of the Ft. Worth Star Telegram. It started when Carter, who worked at the Ft. Worth Star, bought the Ft. Worth Telegram. In 1909, he combined the two papers and it became the Ft. Worth Star Telegram. From 1923 to World War II, it had the largest circulation in the south. He was also a great champion for the city of Ft. Worth as well as a philanthropist.

The Amon Carter Museum of American Art is in (surprise!) Ft. Worth. Admission is free and it's open Tues - Sat 10 - 5 (Thurs is 10 - 8) and then Sun 12-5. 

There's a big green space in front of the museum with tables disbursed around it. It's beautiful but there is no shade and in the Texas heat, I'm not sure who would be spending any time out there. 

The tower is Pioneer Tower and is part of the Will Rogers Memorial Center.

The three statues there are done by Henry Moore and are called "Upright Motive No 1", "Upright Motive No 2" and "Upright Motive No 3".  

This series of sculptures, also outside the Amon Carter Museum, is called "The Tipping Point: Echoes of Extinction" by Elizabeth Burke. It's supposed to call attention to some birds like the Bald Eagle, that are on the verge of extinction. It's on exhibit until August 2024.

I recognized this as a statue of Diana, the huntress. But that was it. The sculpture is by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. I like the way it's framed.

This gallery is on the first floor of the museum. The exhibit is called "The Body Museum" and it's by Jean Shin. It's colorful.

Upstairs, I believe these are more permanent pieces. I like this one for it's amazing detail. It's called "The Council of War" by John Rogers.

As I've mentioned, paintings are my favorite type of art. I really liked this painting by John Singer Sargent. It's called "Alice Vanderbilt Shepard". 

According to the card, "For Sargent, who lived his live largely abroad, encountering the highly educated American thirteen-year-old, Alice Shepard, was a new experience. According to family lore, she captivated Sargent with her beauty, intelligence and especially her ability to converse fluently in French.  Sargent portrays her here in her fashionable, military-style walking suite, then considered property public attire for a young woman as it masked her femininity."

This is a Georgia O'Keefe called "Series 1 - No. 1". She's one of my favorite painters.

John looking at another exhibit.

This is one of the exhibits they had on display. It's there through September 2024. It was pretty cool. There were various paintings of nature.

This one I liked a lot. It's called "Hooping Crane" by John James Audubon.

This one is called "Two Hummingbirds Above a White Orchid" by Martin Johnson Heade. I liked the painting but I sometimes wonder where they get the frames for them. That's a bit heavy looking for me.

From the second floor of the museum, you get an amazing view of downtown Ft. Worth.

So the reason I wanted to come to this museum was for this exhibit. Moving Pictures is about Karl Struss who was a still photographer and cinematographer in the early days of Hollywood. It's not exactly what I thought it would be but it was pretty cool.

This was his camera. Not exactly pocket-size.

He photographed a lot of the old silent picture stars. This is Gloria Swanson. She was a very famous silent movie actress. She was also in a movie called "Sunset Blvd" when she was older that was spoofed by Carol Burnett. This movie still is from "Something to Think About".

Another movie still from a movie called "Coquette". This is Mary Pickford and Matt Moore from 1929. 

The exhibit was very cool. They were playing one of the movies for which Struss won an academy award for the cinematography. The exhibit runs through the end of August 2024.

The Amon Carter Museum of American Art was started in 1961 and is known to have over 300 works of art by Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington. This painting is called "The Old Stage-Coach of the Plains" and it's by Frederic Remington. I like the colors. It's kind of dark but I'm assuming the stagecoach is running at night.

Another example of Frederic Remington's work called "Calvary in an Arizona Sand-Storm". 

This one is by Charles M. Russell and is called "Loops and Swift Horses are surer than lead". I like the colors in this one as well. Western art is not my favorite but I thought the paintings and sculptures displayed here were very cool.

Amon G. Carter.

I've lived in Dallas a long time and never even knew this museum was here! One of the benefits of being retired is that I can view my hometown as a tourist would and visit all the museums and sites that are on offer.

I would highly recommend the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. I'll be checking their website to see what's coming next!