Doctoral Dissertation Template
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UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE IT’S NOT ABOUT COWBOYS: THE COWBOY AS SUBJECT IN CONTEMPORARY ART A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By MELYNDA J. SEATON Norman, Oklahoma 2015 IT’S NOT ABOUT COWBOYS: THE COWBOY AS SUBJECT IN CONTEMPORARY ART A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE SCHOOL OF ART AND ART HISTORY BY ______________________________ Mr. B. Byron Price, Chair _____________________________ Dr. W. Jackson Rushing III ______________________________ Dr. Alison Fields ______________________________ Dr. Kenneth Haltman ______________________________ Dr. Robert Bailey ______________________________ Dr. Misha Klein © Copyright by MELYNDA J. SEATON 2015 All Rights Reserved. Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my dissertation committee chair, Byron Price, for his guidance and encouragement. There is no doubt that his expertise and counsel was vital to the text’s completion. Special thanks to the members of my dissertation committee for the all the advice given and time dedicated to the project. I am also very grateful to the Kerr family, whose financial support through the Robert and Grayce Kerr Fellowship made my graduate education at the University of Oklahoma possible. I also wish to recognize several professors I encountered early in my academic career who gave me the confidence to pursue an advanced degree in the first place. They include Brooke and Cher Knight, Bruce Brasington, James Housefield, and Jennifer Way. Lastly, I thank my friends and family who endured this process with me. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... iv List of Illustrations .......................................................................................................... vi Abstract ............................................................................................................................ xi Chapter 1 - Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 - America’s Cowboy ...................................................................................... 13 “Real” or “Reel” Cowboys ....................................................................................... 13 Political Cowboys ..................................................................................................... 31 Cowboys and Fine Art .............................................................................................. 37 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 42 Chapter 3 - Avedon’s Cowboys ..................................................................................... 51 Chapter 4 - The Pictures Generation: Fabricating Cowboys .......................................... 84 James Casebere ......................................................................................................... 86 David Levinthal ........................................................................................................ 92 Laurie Simmons ...................................................................................................... 102 Richard Prince ........................................................................................................ 109 Conclusion: Appropriated Cowboys ...................................................................... 122 Chapter 5 - Corbijn’s Cowboys .................................................................................... 146 Chapter 6 - Cremaster 2 – Matthew Barney’s Gothic Western ................................... 164 Chapter 7 - Conclusion ................................................................................................. 207 Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 213 Appendix A – Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code ................................................................. 234 v List of Illustrations Figures 2.1 John Wayne cigarette advertisement ............................................................... 44 2.2 Teddy Roosevelt in 1885 ................................................................................. 44 2.3 Stoughton, Cecil. Trip to the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch ................................. 45 2.4 My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys Button ............................................ 45 2.5 Mike Keefe, “Bush Cowboy Rhetoric” ........................................................... 46 2.6 Roy Lichtenstein, The Cowboy (Red) .............................................................. 46 2.7 Roy Lichtenstein, Cowboy on Horseback ........................................................ 47 2.8 Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with Cow Skull ..................................................... 47 2.9 Roy Lichtenstein, Little Landscape ................................................................. 48 2.10 Roy Lichtenstein, Indian Composition ............................................................ 48 2.11 Andy Warhol, Double Elvis ............................................................................. 49 2.12 Andy Warhol, Untitled (Roy Rogers) .............................................................. 49 2.13 Andy Warhol, John Wayne ............................................................................. 50 2.14 Film still from The Great Train Robbery ........................................................ 50 3.1 Richard Avedon, Wilbur Powell, rancher ....................................................... 77 3.2 Richard Avedon, Boyd Fortin, thirteen-year-old ............................................ 77 3.3 Richard Avedon, Richard Wheatcroft, rancher ............................................... 78 3.4 Robert Frank, Rodeo, New York City ............................................................... 78 3.5 Richard Avedon, Clint Jones, ranch hand ....................................................... 79 3.6 Richard Avedon, Cotton Thompson, maintenance man .................................. 79 3.7 Richard Avedon, Benson James, drifter .......................................................... 80 vi 3.8 Richard Avedon, Harrison Tsosie, cowboy ..................................................... 80 3.9 Richard Avedon, Milo Dewitt, cowboy ............................................................ 81 3.10 Richard Avedon, Clifford Feldner, unemployed ranch hand .......................... 81 3.11 Richard Avedon, Joe College, rodeo contestant.............................................. 82 3.12 Richard Avedon, G.R. Cook III, rodeo contestant ........................................... 82 3.13 Richard Avedon, Russell Laird, Tammy Baker, seventeen year olds .............. 83 4.1 James Casebere Covered Wagons .................................................................... 123 4.2 James Casebere, Needle ................................................................................... 123 4.3 Georgia O’Keeffe, Ranchos Church, New Mexico .......................................... 124 4.4 James Casebere, Arches ................................................................................... 124 4.5 James Casebere, Street with Pots ..................................................................... 125 4.6 James Casebere, Mission Façade .................................................................... 125 4.7 James Casebere, Western Street ....................................................................... 126 4.8 James Casebere, Western Sculpture, 1987 ....................................................... 126 4.9 James Casebere, Installation at Bucholtz Gallery ............................................ 127 4.10 David Levinthal, Untitled ................................................................................ 127 4.11 Charles M. Russell, Indians Hunting Buffalo .................................................. 128 4.12 Charles M. Russell, Buffalo Hunt .................................................................... 128 4.13 David Levinthal, Untitled ................................................................................ 129 4.14 David Levinthal, Untitled ................................................................................ 129 4.15 David Levinthal, Untitled ................................................................................ 130 4.16 David Levinthal, Untitled ................................................................................ 130 4.17 Frederic Remington, Downing the Nigh Leader .............................................. 131 vii 4.18 David Levinthal, Untitled ................................................................................ 131 4.19 David Levinthal, Untitled ................................................................................ 132 4.20 David Levinthal, Ad for Absolut Vodka ........................................................... 132 4.21 David Levinthal, Untitled ................................................................................ 133 4.22 Laurie Simmons, Brothers/Horizon ................................................................. 133 4.23 Laurie Simmons, Brothers/Aerial View ........................................................... 134 4.24 Laurie Simmons, Brothers/Hay ......................................................................