Two Denver Museums, Two Special Exhibits

Denver Art Museum and Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Museums exert a magnetic pull on me. Whenever I travel --whether to a significant city with world-class museums or a small town with a tiny museum filled with local teasures and memorabilia -- I visit as many as I can. We are members of several local museums, including the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and I visit but not often enough. In the last 10 days, I went to the DAM when I had time in downtown Denver between scheduled events and then to Nature & Science with friends visiting for Thanksgiving. I spent most of the time in both museums seeing special exhibits, and I recommend both. FWIW,  I went to the art museum on an uncrowded Wednesday afternoon, and four of us visited Nature & Science on the busy Friday of Thanksgiving weekend.

Charles M. Russell at the Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum is showing the first major retrospective of the works of Charles Marion Russell, who depicted a Wild West that had already been considerable "tamed" by the time he documented it between the mid-1880s until his death in 1926. More than 60 important artworks of this self-taught artist are shown, including oil paintings, bronze sculpture and mixed media, plus a selection ofletters and personal objects that portray the artist in his own words and images. Russell was a Western artists but not a "cowboy painter." He actually painted more Native Americas than gringo cowpokes. The entrance to the exhibit, where no photography is permitted, is shown below.

I joined a docent tour, and although many works came from Tulsa's renowned Gilcrease Museum which I have visited. Still, I learned a lot about the artist whom I had often lumped into a pair, "Remington and Russell." Iin truth, these two renowned Western artists overlapped only slightly and corresponded during that time. The Russell exhibit, which hangs through January 10, is included in the museum admission: adult admission, $10 for Colorado residents, $13 for others. Click here to see all admission prices.

Genghis Khan at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
                  
Genghis Khan, his sons, his grandsons and their Mongol hordes galloped into the Denver Museum of Nature & Science with a multi-faceted exhibit that enlightens us about this 13th century warrior and ruler. The Mongol Empire was the most extensive the world has ever known. "The Two Faces of Genghis Khan: Warrior and Statesman" explains his humble beginnings from which he rose to become both a feared warrior and a revered statesman and leader.

The exhibit includes horsemanship, military and governing strategies and tactics, nomadic culture, domestic life and craftsmanship. Lots of interactivity, numerous video presentations, informative maps and docent demonstrations help bring the time and place of this distant ruler with the frightful reputation to life. The entrance to the exhibit, where no photography is permitted either, is shown below.

Genghis Khan will be at the museum through February 7. Many of the 200 objects have never been seen outside of Asia or Russia. The Denver area has about 2,500 Mongolian residents, and members of the Mongolian Cultural Center for the Arts present music and dance traditions of their native country in brief performances. Genghis Khan ickets, which include general admission to the museum, are $20 for adults. Click here for all other admission prices.