Treasures from the Vault – 15 Years of Collecting at Booth Museum
Cartersville, GA
The Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, opened to the public in 2003 with a collection of Western art, presidential portraits and letters, and Civil War art, inviting visitors to “See America’s Story.” Even in the beginning, the collection was larger than what could be hung on the gallery walls. Museum vaults are treasure houses of art that is periodically rotated out of the galleries, and art that has yet to be displayed.
From February 16 through July 28, the museum will present Treasures from the Vault – 15 Years of Collecting at Booth Museum. The museum explains, “This exhibition will highlight items of significance that have rarely, if ever, been shown, including small study paintings, a 2000 Palm Beach voting machine and other presidential material, miniature sculptures and new acquisitions.”
Some works of art on paper need to “rest” for
periods of time after having been exposed to the light of the galleries. Clyde Burnette (1923-2013), a Georgia artist, is represented by his watercolor on paper, The Fly. The permanent collection also contains his portrait of Sam Booth for whom the museum is named. His trompe l’oeil ram skull emerges from the picture plane as its curved horn escapes the painted ground and curls onto the paper’s border.
Another watercolor on paper is Teal Blake’s Tularosa Cavvy. Blake is a member of Cowboy Artists of America and competes in Quarter Horse cutting and roping events. He says, “Overall, art is not copying the image in detail, but telling the story with feeling. That’s one of the main attributes of Western art—it’s honest.” In Tularosa Cavvy the ranch hand gathers up the ranch’s horses from which the cowboys will select their mount for the day.
The Booth offers a rich variety of programming throughout the year including workshops with leading Western artists. An untitled pastel on paper by Donna Howellsickles from a 2007 workshop is also in the exhibition. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2007. The National Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, describes her work as “images of women that are both real and mythical.”