Bohlin’s Silver Saddles Shine in Kerrville

There always seems to be something exciting going on at the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas. One of the most recent events was an exhibit of Edward H. Bohlin silver saddles, which ran for three months and closed at the end of January. While saddles might seem to be an unlikely focus for a museum, it wasn’t for this one.

“We treat them as art, even though they’re utilitarian,” says Darrell Beauchamp, the museum’s executive director. “We gathered 11 of them and exhibited them along with old movie posters. We painted the walls black so they would shimmer and shine. These saddles are art. They have great craftsmanship and sell for as much as $200,000.”

Grove Mosely’s & Ewing Mitchell’s Magnificent Silver Saddle, sterling silver, leather, and gold

Bohlin saddles gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, when as many as 200 riders were astride them in the Rose Bowl Parade. The saddles were particular favorites of old Western movie celebrities, including Roy Rogers, whose silver saddle and spurs were featured in the Museum of Western Art exhibit.

The folks at the museum turned to Charles Morin of Morin Fine Art Gallery in nearby Fredericksburg, who collects and sells Bohlin saddles and who gave a talk about them during the exhibit. “It was a fabulous show for us,” Beauchamp says. People are used to seeing flat art and sculpture, not utilitarian items.”

The museum’s current exhibition, which runs through the middle of April, is A. R. Mitchell: King of the Western Pulp Illustrators. It showcases 25 of his illustrations, from his original sketches to finished paintings. “It’s a good look at the illustration world in the 1930s and 1940s,” Beauchamp says. “He later painted landscapes, and we have about 35 of those on exhibit.” That event will be followed by the museum’s 43rd Annual Roundup, which will open April 24 and run through the first week of June.

Charles Morin

The Museum of Western Art attracts an average of 30,000 visitors each year. That number was down last year because of devastating floods in the area, but it is rebounding nicely. Its permanent collection has approximately 1,000 pieces and includes works by such luminaries as Joseph Henry Sharp and Oscar E. Berninghaus. The museum also has a 6,000-volume Western art and history research library and is home to the L. D. Brinkman “Brink” Collection, which includes 160 works by Western artists who include E. I. Couse, G. Harvey, and Charles Russell.

The Museum of Western Art might be small compared to others, but it’s powerful in the art it exhibits. “We’re doing a lot of important, fresh, and exciting things,” Beauchamp says.