Alfred Jacob Miller western paintings return to US from Scotland

A new exhibition opening at the Eiteljorg Museum brings together breathtaking paintings, watercolors and drawings by a major 19^th century artist of the American West, Alfred Jacob Miller, who was eyewitness to a historic gathering in the Rocky Mountains in 1837.

Alfred Jacob Miller: Revisiting the Rendezvous in Scotland and Today opens at the Eiteljorg on August 3 and continues through January 26, 2025. Before traveling to Indianapolis, the exhibition previously was on view at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, which jointly organized the project with the Eiteljorg Museum.

Western art enthusiasts will experience 50 of Miller’s works that once graced the walls of Murthly Castle, the Scotland home of Miller’s patron, William Drummond Stewart (1795-1871). This traveling exhibition is the first time in more than a century that so many of Miller’s works – which were sold off after Stewart’s death – have been reunited to appear in the same location.

“If you love history and beautiful, natural landscapes you will be dazzled by Alfred Jacob Miller’s paintings, and the complex and intriguing story of the artist and his patron,” Eiteljorg President and CEO Kathryn Haigh said.

Miller (1810-1874) was the only European-American artist to witness the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous of 1837, during which Native peoples such as the Shoshone and other cultures gathered together with European-American fur traders along the Green River in what was then Wyoming Territory. Not only were trade goods such as firearms, metal implements and animal pelts exchanged during these annual encampments, the peoples from various cultures and languages formed an intermingled community lasting days or weeks. Part camping expedition, part trading post, part reunion and celebration with hunting, gambling, friendship and camaraderie, the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous is remembered as an important cultural event in Wyoming’s history.

Miller’s sketches created during the Rendezvous were the basis for his later paintings. Miller made only one expedition to the West, though he later spent a few years painting in Scotland where his works were displayed at Murthly Castle.

The exhibition also reveals new insights about Miller and his relationship to Stewart, a wealthy Scottish baron (and military veteran of Britain’s 1815 victory over Napoleon at Waterloo.) An adventurer and art collector, Stewart traveled to North America and recruited Miller to accompany him on the expedition over rivers and across the Plains to the 1837 Rendezvous, and commissioned the young artist to create many paintings of it.

“Miller’s paintings, especially of Native peoples, were not documentary, and reflect a mix of fact and fiction, as well as his patron’s directives,” Eiteljorg curator of Western art, history and culture Johanna M. Blume said. “Miller and Stewart harbored biases and misconceptions of their times, and the exhibition provides necessary context for today’s visitors who might find some of the painting subjects troubling. Yet Miller’s dramatic lifelike scenes of camp life, horses, and people of multiple cultures forming a community together – set against impressive mountain landscapes and sunsets – rank him as a significant Western artist of the early 19^th century. This exhibition will provide today’s museum-goers an unforgettable look into a corner of the North American West nearly two centuries ago.”

Bringing together Miller’s Stewart-commissioned artworks from several institutions, Revisiting the Rendezvous also includes cultural objects from the fur trade. To help visitors visualize Miller’s work, the exhibition features two life-sized theatrical vignettes. One scene is a recreation of Miller’s tent during the 1837 Rendezvous. The other depicts a room of Stewart’s hunting lodge at Murthly Castle.

Related Public Programs:

• On the opening day, Saturday Aug. 3, Curator Johanna M. Blume will lead a 1 p.m. gallery tour of the show. Visitors can try their hand at sketching the gallery; supplies will be provided. It’s included with regular admission.
• On Sunday, Sept. 8, playwright Gregory Hinton will give a 1 p.m. stage performance based on Alfred Jacob Miller’s personal journal entries from his travels in the West. That is followed by a gallery walk and Q-and-A with curators Karen McWhorter of the Cody museum and Johanna M. Blume of the Eiteljorg. This event is part of the Quest for the West® Art Show and Sale weekend and requires registration; visit quest.eiteljorg.org for details.