The Art of Alfred Jacob Miller

[pathfinder]

A resource for new comers to the RMFT.

Sentimental Journey: The Art of Alfred Jacob Miller

a good resource for period art of the western fur trade ca. 1837

also check out Karl Bodmer who was a contemporary of Miller's.

[Chuck Burrows]

Here's a link to a bunch of Miller's prints on line with the ability to zoom in - two caveats, a lot of his later work, the big oils and watercolors, have been "romanticized" so they should be cross referenced with his original sketches made on the trail and in camp.
Second caveat - remember this was 1837, so using his work for prior years should be done judiciously - again cross referencing with other period info is recommended.

art.thewalters.org/viewartist.aspx?id=4486#results

[jeffp]

Miller's a good source, but I'll second Chuck's caveat's....
Just bear in mind when using Miller's work as reference for clothing & etc,
that #1 his microcosm was the Rocky mountains & nowhere else.
#2 use only his field works, meaning things produced in his studio
should not be used, as he tended to romanticize them a great deal
for saleability.
#3 He was an artist and we ALL use artistic license!

Bodmer is a great source for upper-Missouri indian costumes....as is Catlin!
Bodmer's field work is actually entirely ethnographic (as Maxmillian decreed it so) Miller's work for Drummond Stewart was a documentation of their/his
adventures, so kinda apples & oranges as far as interpretational aspects,

[Chuck Burrows]

Just found 83 Miller images available for downloading in large size - some of these I have never seen including a later one of Old Bill Burrows (an ancestor whose image in DeVoto's Across the Wide MIssouri set me on this path 51 years ago) - in this one he is wearing leather and has a good looking mule to boot
www.the-athenaeum.org/art/list.php?m=a&s=du&aid=648

To download the large image - click on the thumbnail on the main page I linked to above. That takes you to the individual page for that image with a second thumbnail - click on that thumbnail for the full size downloadable image and enjoy....

[RileyMN]

Good stuff Chuck! Thanks for the link.

[Duane]

It looks like old Bill Burrows has a trade gun,much like another picture I have seen of him.

[Pare]

I found this a few minutes ago while searching for a larger image of a Bodmer painting. It allows you to zoom in really close on the images.

www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/entity/m09g6txz

Pare-