Art gallery interior with wooden floors and terracotta walls, displaying framed paintings and sculptures under ceiling lights.
PERMANENT COLLECTION

The Early West Gallery

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Explore early Western art from 1900–1950, featuring iconic artists like Remington and Curtis alongside Native-made objects, marking a pivotal era where cultural storytelling and artistic expression began to define the genre.

Highlights From the Gallery

Oscar Edmund Berninghaus, Indians and Spanish Soldiers, Pueblo Village, 1914, oil on canvas

Gerard Curtis Delano, In Way Down Yonder Land, unknown, oil on Masonite

Eanger Irving Couse, A Pueblo Fireplace, 1917, oil on canvas

Edward S. Curtis, Canyon de Chelly, 1904, photogravure. Gift of Robb and Susan Hough.

These paintings, sculptures and photographs from circa 1900–1950 are among the oldest in the collection. Frederic Remington, Edward S. Curtis, and the Taos Society of Artists are some of the early influencers in Western art. They offer interpretations of the American West that paved the way for later work by contemporary artists found throughout the rest of the museum.

During this same time period, Native-made objects gained nationwide popularity with the rise of tourism and continued westward expansion. Together these works mark a transitional period when cultural and narrative art intersected, and stand as early examples of the Western art genre.  

Six adults stand close together taking a group selfie in the Early West Gallery, with framed paintings visible on the walls behind them.

Visit the Early West Gallery

This gallery is part of our permanent collection and included with museum admission. Members enjoy free admission daily!

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News & Stories

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From the Museum & Beyond
A Western American Art Museum … in Florida?
Absolutely! Local museum founders Tom and Mary James have collected American art since the 1960s, often acquiring paintings or sculptures while traveling.
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Art & Artists
Highlights from the Vault: A Small Basket with a Big History
The James Museum is fortunate to hold in its collection a basket that, in a rare occurrence, was not only signed, but the weaver and date it was made are well documented.
A pair of beaded moccasins with vibrant geometric beadwork in red, green, white, and blue, blue lining, tan leather cuffs, and red tassels—part of the Beaded Legacies collection by Victoria Standing Bear-Conroy—displayed on bubble wrap.
Art & Artists
Beaded Legacies: Work from Victoria Standing Bear-Conroy
In one remarkable case, from The James Museum’s collection, we have a rare instance of a set of objects where we know both the creator and the original recipient.