The Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will open its first exhibition of the new year on Feb. 5. “Denizens: Wildlife on the Western Frontier” will feature a spectrum of original 19th-century engravings of wildlife that roamed the American Plains. The exhibition will be on view in the newly renovated lower-level gallery through June 25.
Curated by Lee Silliman, “Denizens” includes vintage engravings from 1770 to 1902 that display different aspects of man’s relationship with native animals. Many of the images were originally published in “Harper’s Weekly,” “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper,” “The Illustrated London News” and other historical sources.
Included in the works are bears, bison, elk, pronghorn antelope, wolves, cougars, eagles, osprey and even a few feral horses. The fauna are portrayed in their natural habitat or as the object of mankind’s penchant to hunt them for food, clothing or sport. The panoply of scenes includes dramatic surprise encounters between man and animal, stealthy approaches by hunters, conflicts between predator and prey species, a stampede from a prairie fire, Native veneration of wildlife, and faunal portraits set in their natural habitat.
Artists include Frederic Remington, George Catlin, Karl Bodmer, Alfred Jacob Miller, John James Audubon, William de la Montagne Cary and many more.
The museum will host a free opening reception for the exhibition during First Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 5.
The Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and admission is always free.
