“Jay Phelan is one of the most important and passionately knowledgeable art connoisseurs in the entire country, and we’re honored to welcome him here—not only for his tremendous generosity in sharing his collection to enable us to organize this exhibition, but also for his extraordinary insight into the diversity of the 19th and early 20th century American art depicting the West,” TMA Director Kimberley Bush Tomio said. “This is a program you won’t want to miss. The American West is revealed here in many different way it was experienced by the artists who actually traveled and observed the frontier.”

Phelan, a native of Chevy Chase, Maryland, made his first journey to the western U.S. in 1954—stoking what would become a lifelong passion for the grandeur and rugged beauty of the American frontier as interpreted by the likes of Remington, Bierstadt and John James Audubon as well as many lesser known artists. After completing his graduate studies in American history and literature at Yale University, Phelan purchased his first work of American western art in 1967, and has continued to build his collection over more than 45 years.

Scenes from the American West: The Phelan Collection, organized by the TMA, continues through May 17 at the Museum. Exhibition sponsors are Austin Bank and Potter-Minton P.C., with additional support provided by Collectors’ Circle sponsor, The Robert M. Rogers Foundation; and Corporate Member sponsors, Hibbs-Hallmark & Co. and Texas Oncology-Tyler. Media sponsor is KLTV Channel 7.

LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL

Participants in Sunday’s tour also are invited to stay and view The Elegant House; Paintings & Decorative Art from the Graham Williford Collection, extended through March 1.

Among the highlights in the exhibition, which features more than 60 pieces from the collection of native East Texan Graham Devoe Williford, is Victor David Brenner’s portrait relief of Abraham Lincoln. This 1907 bronze represents the original design for the now-ubiquitous “Lincoln-head” penny, commissioned by President Theodore Roosevelt and issued by the U.S. Mint in 1909 to commemorate the centennial of Lincoln’s birth.

Roosevelt (who considered himself to be Lincoln’s political heir) reputedly was inspired to base the new coin design on Brenner’s work when the then-president himself sat for a portrait by the famed sculptor in New York, after seeing a previous bas-relief Brenner had rendered based on a photograph by Matthew Brady. The Lincoln copper penny made numismatic history as the first American coin issue to feature the likeness of a U.S. president.