Ricketts Art Foundation, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, and the Museum of Mountain Man Launch Online Catalogue of Alfred Jacob Miller's Western Paintings

LITTLE JACKSON HOLE, Wyo., Nov. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing effort to provide innovative access to the works of important artists, The Ricketts Art Foundation has joined with the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and the Museum of Mountain Man to launch the most extensive online collection to date of the western paintings of the great 19^th-century American artist, Alfred Jacob Miller.

Called "Fur Traders and Rendezvous: The Alfred Jacob Miller Online Catalogue," the website features high-resolution images of Miller's paintings from his historic 1837 trip west to the Rocky Mountains, during which he captured on canvas a raw and rugged world now mostly forgotten.  Also featured are essays and video vignettes about Miller, his work, and the world he painted.  Fur Traders and Rendezvous: The Alfred Jacob Miller Online Catalogue will serve as a resource for those studying Miller, and a point of entry for people who wish to learn more about the world Miller painted.

"Miller is a leading figure in 19th-century American art history whose skills as a painter, historical recorder of the mountain man era, and special sensitivity to native people make him worthy of modern review and enjoyment," said Joe Ricketts, founder of The Ricketts Art Foundation. "It is a privilege to help bring his western work to a wider audience via the Internet."

"We were delighted to co-sponsor the Alfred Jacob Miller Online Catalogue with The Ricketts Art Foundation and the Museum of the Mountain Man," said Peter Hassrick, Director Emeritus and Senior Scholar at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.  "Miller is firmly situated in the canon of American art and commands a place of honor among the many artists of his day who, through fine art, revealed and preserved the West and its complex human saga for us all.  Fur Traders and Rendezvous: The Alfred Jacob Miller Online Catalogue blends Miller's wonderful art with essays, vignettes, and videos that will appeal to scholars and casual art lovers alike."

"The Alfred Jacob Miller Online Catalogue is an interaction of art, history and culture depicting the rich and extraordinary encounters of mountain men, Native American cultures and the landscape of the fur trade era," said Laurie Hartwig, Executive Director of the Museum of the Mountain Man.  "Miller is the only artist to actually attend and document this historical time-frame with his beautiful, invaluable renditions."

The catalogue can be accessed online by pointing your browser to www.AlfredJacobMiller.com.  Works by Miller and related content will be regularly added to the site.  People interested in receiving updates about Fur Traders And Rendezvous: The Alfred Jacob Miller Online Catalogue can subscribe on the website or by emailing [email protected]. 

About The Ricketts Art Foundation
Joe Ricketts founded The Ricketts Art Foundation to enrich people's lives by providing innovative access to the works of important visual, performing, and literary artists, both current and past. The online Miller catalogue is the Foundation's first major project.  The Foundation is based in Little Jackson Hole, Wyoming, an area located in the Upper Hoback Basin and referred to as "Little Jackson Hole" or "Jackson's Little Hole" since the early 19^th Century. 

About the Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Since 1917, the award-winning Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, has devoted itself to sharing the story of the authentic American West. The Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, includes five museums and a research library under one roof—the Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearm Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and the McCracken Research Library.

About The Museum of the Mountain Man
Situated in the heart of the country that was once the hub of the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous system, The Museum of the Mountain Man presents a visual and interpretative experience into the romantic era of the 1800s mountain man and provides a comprehensive overview of the historical significance of the fur trade in the American West. The museum sponsors the Green River Rendezvous Days every July and publishes the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal, a nationally-recognized, peer-reviewed, academic publication.

SOURCE Ricketts Art Foundation