Il Etait Une Fois ... Le Western

Once Upon a Time ... the Western

The temporary exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is called “Once Upon a Time … The Western: A New Frontier in Art and Film.

I had seen a banner on the outside of the museum as I was walking by a few days ago and I wondered if I would be interest in images of the western: paintings, artifacts and Western movies.

The five rooms were so amazing that I stayed all day and into the late evening, much of the time wishing I had Rebecca by my side for we would have laughed together so many times.

I was reminded both of our experience in a museum of film in Paris, and then of the number of times I have read her essays on masculinity and the Western.

As I was leaving to go home I lingered in the bookshop, reading the catalogue for it was published both in French and in English.

The way I knew I was to buy the book was, if I go back to the catalogue, time after time, then it is probably a good idea to take the book home and read it there rather than try to finish it standing in the bookstore.

The book should be sold by weight for I think it is 3 pounds and only $55. Most of the pages are beautiful colour prints. Some interviews with directors are there, as well as some masterful essays.

... music from the film was in the background ...

I listened to the audio guide over and over as I walked from room to room. I was charmed by the Andy Warhol painting as well as by the Jackson Pollock “Cut Out Figure”, wondering how the text was going to weave that into the idea of the Western.

Of course that was done masterfully.

I got to see the original motorcycle from Easy Rider.  It had been damaged during the final scene and is now rebuilt.

There is an installation by Kenneth Monkman called Boudoir de Berdashe, 2007 that made me laugh hysterically.

Monkman has created a tepee, but instead of skins or canvass for the covering, he has used a heavy brocade tapestry. Instead of traditional tepee items inside, one can sit on ornate Louis XIV couches. There is a film running, which is reminiscent of the old silent films, but the text of the film subverts the cowboy and Indian stereotypes. Thank you Film Studies because I would have been lost without having seen some Pricilla of the Desert work and had some analysis. I was laughing and gasping at the same time. 

Here is the blurb from the book publishers:

The Western is the quintessential American epic—a mythic story of nation building, triumphs, failures, and fantasies. This book accompanies the first major exhibition to examine the Western genre and its evolution from the mid-1800s in fine art, film, and popular culture, exploring gender roles, race relations, and gun violence—a story that is about more than cowboys and American Indians, pursuits and duels, or bandits and barroom brawls. From 19th-century landscape paintings by Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Remington to works by Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, and Kent Monkman; from the legends of “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Billy the Kid to John Ford’s classic films and Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns and recent productions by Quentin Tarantino, Ang Lee, and Joel and Ethan Coen, The Western observes how the mythology of the West spread throughout the world and endures today.