EXHIBITION FACT SHEET
Description:
The Denver Art Museum’s Petrie Institute of Western American Art in concert with the Colorado Historical Museum and the Denver Public Library’s Western History and Genealogy Department will present a collaborative Denver exhibition running October 2, 2009 through March 28, 2010, featuring the work of Colorado artist Allen Tupper True (1881-1955). In conjunction with the exhibition, Colorado Public Television, has produced a documentary on True’s life and work. The Trust for Museum Exhibitions will tour a select portion of Allen True’s West through 2013.
Programming
The works are organized according to genre. Illustrations from True’s early period while studying under Howard Pyle will be located in the fifth floor lobby of the Denver Public Library’s Western History and Genealogy department. The easel paintings inspired by visits to Taos and backpack trips in Colorado will be displayed in the Gates Gallery, second floor of the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building. True’s largest body of work was his murals which, alongside biographical information, will be featured in the Colorado History Museum.
Educational programming for the exhibition includes a walking tour map of True’s murals in the downtown area. A bus tour of True’s murals and studio will take place in November, a brown bag lunch with curator Peter Hassrick will be offered in December and a curator-led tour of the three venues will take place in January.
Three publications, Western Passages, Colorado Heritage and a Denver Public Library special edition magazine will feature articles and catalogues on True’s art. The publications will be available at each of the host venues.
When:
October 2, 2009 through March 28, 2010
Seeing Allen True’s West:
Allen True’s West is a three-part exhibition, and visitors are encouraged to visit all three venues. The Denver Public Library and Colorado History Museum have no admission fee. The Denver Art Museum includes the exhibition in general admission, and tickets should be purchased directly from DAM.
Colorado History Museum
The Colorado History Museum, located at 1300 Broadway in Denver, is a History Colorado site. Open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday noon-5 p.m. History Colorado is the public programs, services, statewide museums and historic sites of the Colorado Historical Society. The Colorado Historical Society was established in 1879 and is headquartered at the Colorado History Museum. In addition to History Colorado, the Colorado Historical Society contains the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the Stephen H. Hart Research Library, and administers the State Historical Fund—a preservation-based grants program funded by limited stakes gaming tax revenues. For more information, visit www.coloradohistory.org or call 303-866-3682.
Denver Public Library
Open daily; closed on major holidays. Denver’s award-winning Library features a whimsical Children’s Library, Summer of Reading programs, storytimes, public computers and cultural programming for children and adults. DPL holds world-class Western History materials including art, maps, rare books and manuscripts. For more information, visit www.denverlibrary.org or call 720-865-1111. DAM Tickets
Denver Art Museum
Museum hours are Tuesday through Thursday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday 10 a.m.–10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday noon–5 p.m. The Museum is closed to the public every Monday. For general Museum information, visit www.denverartmuseum.org or call 720-865-5000.
Allen True’s West is included in general admission to the museum. Tickets can be purchased at the Museum during normal business hours, or online 24 hours a day at www.denverartmuseum.org. For information in Spanish, call 720-913-0169. A $1 per ticket service fee will be added to online orders.
The Denver Art Museum is located on 13th Avenue between Broadway and Bannock streets, just south of Civic Center. Parking is available in the Cultural Complex Garage; enter at 12th Avenue west of Broadway.
Adult and student groups of 10 or more can save time and money on visits to the DAM. Two weeks advance reservation is required. Please email groupsales@denverartmuseum.org for more information.
DAM General Admission: CO Residents Others
Members Free Free
Adults $10 $13
Seniors (65+)
& College Students $8 $10
Youth (6–18) $3 $5
Kids (0–5) Free Free
Exhibit Organizers
Allen True’s West is a collaborative effort between the Denver Art Museum, the Colorado History Museum and the Denver Public Library. The Trust for Museum Exhibitions is organizing the touring exhibit.
Traveling Exhibition
Confirmed venues as of July 2009:
Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center: April-July 2010
Sangre de Cristo Arts Center: August-October 2010
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center: November 2010 -Jan 2011
Hubbard Museum of the American West: June-August 2011
Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University: Fall 2011
Exhibition Sponsors
Allen True’s West is presented by the Denver Art Museum in association with the Colorado History Museum and the Denver Public Library. This exhibition is sponsored by the True Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the JFM Foundation, Edith Marbut, Tom and Jane Petrie, Raymond and Sally Duncan, Crimson Resource Management, Leptas Foundation, Rob and Julie Lewis, Redd Foundation, Bruce and Dorothy Dines, Jim and Lucy Wallace, Alan and Carol Ann Olson, Joan True McKibben, Mr. and Mrs. Will F. Nicholson Jr., David Cook Fine Arts Galleries and Mr. and Mrs. Barton M. Johnson. We also recognize the generosity of the citizens who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District and the donors to the DAM Annual Fund Leadership Campaign.
Victoria Tupper Kirby, co-author, will talk about her grandfather, artist Allen True, show images of his work and sign copies of his biography, Allen Tupper True: An American Artist, at the historic “LoDo” Tattered Cover Book Store, 1628 16th Street at Wynkoop in Denver, CO, on Wednesday, September 30 at 7:30 pm. For more information, please call the store at 303-436-1070.
I ordered only 80 copies of the casebound (hardcover) book and they have sold out! However, you can still purchase paperback copies (for $25 plus shipping) on this site through the “Buy Now” button to Paypal. If you wish to purchase a casebound copy, please ask your local bookstore to order one for you or contact the University of Washington Press, which is distributing Allen Tupper True: An American Artist
download Jumper to bookstores, libraries and other institutions. The UWP website is: www.washington.edu/uwpress. The book will be included in UWP’s catalogue in May and should be in bookstores within a month after that. So, please wait until May to order a hardcover copy. Thank you to everyone who rushed to buy the hardcover hot of the presses!
I’ve found out some more information regarding True’s The Water Hole mural that was in the former Jonas Fur Building at 1037 Broadway, from Georgia Garnsey, who is writing a book on Colorado murals with Mary Meadow.
According to Georgia, the Jonas Fur building on Broadway went through several transformations. At one point it was a very nice bar/restaurant and several people I’ve spoken to said the mural was still there. At some point, Regas Christou bought several properties in downtown Denver to be turned into nightclubs. One of these was the restaurant with True’s mural that he renamed The Shelter. A Denver Bronco football player was shot and killed outside this nightclub several years ago. Georgia visited the nightclub before the shooting and could not find the mural. Later, Jim Barrett told her that he had contacted Christou who took him to a warehouse where the mural had been taken. Jim reported that it was rolled up with things leaning on it. Georgia and I are now trying to find a Denver non-profit organization to rescue the mural.
I also have updated information about the three True murals that were in the Nurses Library at Children’s Hospital in Denver from Carmen Bria, Chief Conservator at the Western Center for the Conservation of Fine Arts (WCCFA) in Denver. All three (Indian Women on Bank of Stream that surrounded the library door; Indian Woman with Deer and Indian Women at Rest, both of which were in an inset between book shelves) were removed when the hospital moved to another location. They are safely stored at WCCFA and Children’s Hospital plans to have them conserved and placed in its new building.
Museum of the Rockies signs on as co-publisher and the University of Washington Press as Distributor
Canyon Leap is pleased to announce that the Museum of the Rockies is co-publishing Allen Tupper True: An American Artist in association with Canyon Leap and the University of Washington Press is distributing the book.
In 1957 the Museum of the Rockies was founded as both a college-level division of Montana State University and an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, MOR is one of just 750 or so museums to hold this distinction from the more than 16,000 museums nationwide. The Museum is also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and a federal repository for fossils. Open year round, the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University houses one of the world’s largest collections of dinosaurs, a planetarium, and exhibits on Western history and American Indians.
The first book to bear the University of Washington Press imprint appeared in 1920. Since that time, the Press has published more than 3,500 books, of which, approximately 1,200 are currently in print. UWP publishes about 70 new titles each year. UWP also distributes the books of over fifteen other publishers and organizations around the world.
Allen True’s West: In October 2009, the Denver Art Museum’s Petrie Institute of Western American Art (DAM), in concert with the Denver Public Library’s Western History/Genealogy Department (DPL) and the Colorado History Museum (CHM), will mount a three-part exhibition, titled Allen True’s West, featuring the work of Colorado artist Allen Tupper True. The exhibits will run from October 2, 2009 to March 28, 2010.
DPL will focus their segment of the exhibition on True’s illustrations for magazines and books, showing original painted illustrations from 1905 – 1915 next to the printed books and magazines to enhance public understanding of the artist’s connection with the written word. DAM will concentrate on True’s easel paintings from 1911- 1920 by showing thirteen major works that were intended by the artist to be marketed and appreciated as “fine art.” CHM will display large-scale murals and a number of studies for public murals produced from the late teens through the 1940s as well as photos and ephemera.
Denver’s Colorado Public Television – KBDI-PBS is producing an hour-long documentary on Allen Tupper True’s life, times and artistic achievements, also titled Allen True’s West, which will be broadcast beginning in the fall of 2009. A DVD with extras will be available for sale as well.
Beginning in April 2010, a traveling exhibition featuring forty-two selections from the three Allen True’s West Denver shows will travel to eight additional museums in the western region.