Amon Carter Museum announces diverse art acquisitions spanning 150 years
October 21, 2025 | In the PressFrom Fort Worth Star-Telegram (https://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/fort-worth/article312590884.html)
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art announced on Tuesday, Oct. 21, the acquisition of 50 paintings, photographs, sculptures and sketches spanning 150 years. The haul includes “Marriage of Hiawatha,” a sculpture circa 1866 by Edmonia Lewis, who was one of the first women artists of color to earn international recognition, to snarky, dark and defining Southern California artist Sandow Birk’s “White Out: A Monumental Arch to American History” from 2021.
But with such a time range, there’s something to please everyone. They include the detailed painter Cecilia Beaux’s 1908 painting “Mrs. John Frederick Lewis and Her Son, John Frederick Lewis, Jr,” an example of her clear sign of her eye for detail and drama, the small sculpture “Untitled (Female Figure with Arms Raised),” 1979, a great representation of work by the American and Mexican sculptor and graphic artist Elizabeth Catlett, and underestimated and accomplished Black sculptor John Rhoden’s “Reclining Figure,” 1963, a first by the artist in the collection.
Jewish artist Ben Shahn makes an appearance, with his “Study for Red Staircase No. 1,” 1944, a study for the famed painting. Fans of local history will be delighted to see Seymour Fogel’s study for the mural, “The Challenge of Space,” ca. 1964, at the Federal Building in Fort Worth.
No Carter binge buy goes without photography. Represented are Black photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier’s “Flint is Family in Three Acts,” 2016-17, Native American photographer Cara Romero’s “Amber Morningstar” and “Julia & Joslynn,” 2019, part of her “First American Girl” series, and Black photographer Shawn Walker’s “110th St. Central Park, Harlem,” from the 1960s.
Rounding out the binge buy is the late Latino artist’s Chuck Ramirez’s “Seven Days,” series of still life paintings on display at the museum in the exhibition “Seven Days: The Still Lifes of Chuck Ramirez” on view through Jan. 4, 2026, and “Indian Portrait in Roma” and “Hollywood Cowboy in Roma,” both from 1978, by Native American artist Fritz Scholder. While the choices highlight the diverse experiences by American artists, it’s also an insight of what will continue to be the ongoing advocacy by the curatorial staff who tell that American story and through their advocacy continue to accommodate, intimidate and surprise audiences. Scott Wilcox, interim director and chief operating officer, seems to agree. “This year’s acquisitions support the Carter’s ongoing mission to expand the stories our collection tells about the history of American creativity by extending the breadth of artistic perspectives it reflects,” he said in a statement. “From rare historical works to iconic modern pieces to contemporary and photographic works revealing wide-ranging viewpoints of the American experience, this continued broadening of the Carter’s holdings is critical to enabling the Museum to engage both new and familiar audiences with a comprehensive rendering of American art’s past, present, and future.”
