Thomas Moran, “Green River Wyoming,” 1878, oil on canvas, 14 x 10 inches

The Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, is set to present the fifth installment of its signature triennial exhibition series, “Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line,” which opens in just a few days.

On September 16, the Booth Western Art Museum will open the fifth installment of its signature triennial exhibition series, which will run through December 31. Titled “Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line V,” the show allows visitors to experience art that will transport them to the most beautiful locations in the West, while witnessing both the joys and hardships of life in the region. More than 90 paintings, sculptures, photographs, and other objects compose the show, representing over 150 years of art history and 80 artists.

Eanger Irving Couse, “Ranchos de Taos Church,” 1934, oil, 10-1/2 x 11 inches, Collection of David and Katie Kohutek
Fritz White, “Free,” bronze, 13-1/2 x 18 x 11 inches, Collection of Elaine and Ron Abend
Alyce Frank, “Squash Gardens in Valdez,” 1986, oil on canvas, 47 x 47 inches, Collection of Lynn and Dick Berkowit
Amy Ringholtz, “Deadlock,” 2012, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches, Collection of Michael and Anne King
Bruce Nowlin, “Poem,” 2014, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, Collection of David and Nancy Blevins

Via the museum press release: “The upcoming exhibition is co-curated by Booth Museum Executive Director Seth Hopkins and Director of Curatorial Services Lisa Wheeler, working with a wide range of private collectors and museums around the Southeast. The Sweet Tea Series began in 2005 and has become the Booth Museum’s signature exhibition, occurring every three years. The title, developed by the museum’s founding curator, Dr. W. James Burns, whimsically and loosely defines the geographic area which is home to these amazing works of art. The Sweet Tea Series truly complements the Booth Museum main galleries, which house the largest permanent exhibition space for Western art in America. The resulting exhibition presents a full cross-section of Western art, both historical and contemporary, and the full range of potential Western subjects.

Carl Rungius, “Olympic Elk,” oil on canvas, 44 x 60 inches, Collection of Gabe and Terry Starace
Clyde Aspevig, “Yellowstone Thermal Pool,” 2015, oil on linen, 29 x 27 inches, Private Collection
Jim Norton, “Dreaming of the Days When My Ponies Ran Free,” 2014, 36 x 62 inches, Collection of Craig and Deirdre Macnab
Joseph Henry Sharp, “The Great Mystery Moonlight,” oil on canvas, 31 x 25 inches, Collection of Karen and Joel Piassick
Tony Abeyta, “Village of the Black Cross,” 2016, oil, 48 x 60 inches

“‘Sweet Tea V’ will include excellent examples from a wide range of artists including early painters like George Catlin, William Ranney, Charles Deas, Charles Bird King, and John Mix Stanley, who established the foundations for Western art in the early to mid-1800s. Included works by Charlie Russell and Thomas Moran epitomize the next generation of artists to depict the West. The Taos and Santa Fe art colonies are also well represented, with paintings by E.I. Couse, Joseph Henry Sharp, William ‘Buck’ Dunton, and Walter Ufer. The mid-1900s is a down period for Western art according to many sources, citing the growth of abstract expressionism and pop art, but paintings by Gerald Curtis Delano, Frank Tenney Johnson and Carl Rungius testify to the enduring love artists have for the West. Living master artists Jim Norton, Clyde Aspevig, and many others will bring the Western story up to the present. ‘Sweet Tea V’ also includes an emphasis on works by some of today’s top Native artists, including Kevin Red Star, T.C. Cannon, Dan Namingha, Tony Abeyta, and R.C. Gorman. Likewise, female artists have always been a prominent part of this exhibition series, and this iteration is no different with artists like Marjorie Reed, Carrie Ballantyne, and Amy Ringholz in the mix. In addition to dazzling paintings, several other mediums will be on view, including sculpture by Cyrus Dallin and Fritz White, photographs by Imogen Cunningham and Paul Strand, and folk art by Ben Ortega and Mamie Deschillie. The Sweet Tea Series is also known for a surprise or two in each installation – in ‘Sweet Tea V’ be on the lookout for a massive work by one of the hottest New York contemporary artists, Bo Bartlett.”

To learn more, visit the Booth Western Art Museum.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.


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Andrew Webster is the former Editor of Fine Art Today and worked as an editorial and creative marketing assistant for Streamline Publishing. Andrew graduated from The University of North Carolina at Asheville with a B.A. in Art History and Ceramics. He then moved on to the University of Oregon, where he completed an M.A. in Art History. Studying under scholar Kathleen Nicholson, he completed a thesis project that investigated the peculiar practice of embedded self-portraiture within Christian imagery during the 15th and early 16th centuries in Italy.

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