Rolling plains

Past Exhibition

Backstory

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Western American Art in Context

See the art. See the artifacts. Get the backstory.

Albert Bierstadt’s magnificent landscapes, Frederic Remington’s exuberant bronzes, the Taos painters’ colorful scenes of the Southwest: you may know some of these legendary artworks, but what are the stories behind them?

Artists of the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries captured the landscapes and people of a rapidly changing West—as events set in motion dynamics that still shape the region to this day. Backstory pairs nearly 50 masterpieces from the Denver Art Museum’s renowned collection with History Colorado’s wealth of artifacts to tell the stories beyond the art.

Compass in a display case
Saddle in a display
A statue with an eagle perched on the forearm of a Native American
2 bowls and a ladle in a display case
A bucking horse sculpture in a display case.

Tickets All tickets include admission to museum

Location

Language Accessibility

English, Español
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Inside Backstory exhibit, art hanging on red walls.
Backstory exhibit with art and statues.
Backstory exhibit, blue walls, art and statues.
Inside Backstory exhibit, bench for sitting, two pieces of art on two walls.
People in the Backstory gallery looking at art and conversing.
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We are delighted to be collaborating with History Colorado on Backstory, and offering western American art lovers the opportunity to explore one of DAM’s most beloved collections in a new dialogue with History Colorado’s amazing historical artifacts.

Christoph Heinrich, director, Denver Art Museum
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Take a chronological journey through the West. Backstory features treasured artifacts from the History Colorado collection such as ancestral Puebloan pottery, Civil War objects and Rockmount clothing alongside iconic works from the Denver Art Museum’s collection of western American art—including Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran’s scenic landscapes, Frederic Remington’s sculptures and George Catlin’s striking painting The Cutting Scene.

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