The Robert Henri Museum is an art and history museum in

Cozad, Nebraska Cozad is a city in Dawson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,977 at the 2010 census. The town is on the Great Plains of central Nebraska, along the Union Pacific Railroad and U.S. Route 30, just north of the Platte River. ...

that contains sketches, drawings, and paintings by

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

. The Museum is located in Henri's former home. The Henri Museum is a non-profit educational 501(c)(3) organization.

Museum collection

The Henri Museum art collection includes Henri's painting ''Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain'', which is a copy of the c. 1652 painting by Diego Velázquez. It was donated to the Museum by Janet LeClair in 1988. In 2018, the gallery displays more than 33 drawings, seven paintings, and other items belonging to the artist. A 2017 addition to the collection was '' Normandie Interior'', which Henri completed in 1897. The painting was part of Henri’s first solo exhibition and bought by Frank Southern, the artist’s brother, and kept in the family for the next 120 years. Aside from Henri's works, the Henri Museum also houses items owned by the Cozad family that relate to the history of Cozad. The town was founded by Henri's father, John Jackson Cozad.

History

The Henri Museum building was originally a house that was built by John Jackson Cozad in 1873. In 1883, Cozad shot a local rancher named Alfred Pearson in Cozad. This shooting resulted from in a dispute over cattle that later escalated in a shouting match, a brawl and

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, an ...

. The mortally wounded Pearson died a month later. After the shooting, Cozad fled town for Denver. Although Cozad was acquitted in the killing, his wife and sons soon sold the house and left town forever. To escape notoriety, son Robert Henry Cozad changed his name to Robert Henri. The Cozad house later became the home of artist Miles Maryott. He was described by the ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper c ...

'' as “a well-known hunting guide, outdoorsman and landscape painter — there was talk he would become the first-ever Nebraska state naturalist — before he pulled a gun on his best friend and changed his own life.” His fame thereafter was as a jailhouse artist of some talent. The Henri Museum was founded by a women's coalition led by Shirley Paulsen. The coalition purchased the Cozad house, then known as the

Hendee Hotel The Hendee Hotel is a historic hotel building in Cozad, Nebraska. It was built in 1879 for John J. Cozad, the founder of the city of Cozad. With One of his sons, Robert Henri, became a painter. Cozad shot a man in 1882, and he sold the hotel to St ...

. They also purchased an adjacent historical walkway, a

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

Station, an historical church, and a schoolhouse. The coalition purchased the property with donations from the Henri and Cozad families and other local residents. The Hendee Hotel building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1979. In 2014, the Henri Museum built a new gallery to display its Henri paintings and sketches. As part of the project the museum installed a quality

climate control Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. H ...

and security system.

Artist-in-residence program

The museum sponsors an artist-in-residence program.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Museums in Dawson County, Nebraska

Henri Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mont ...

Museums of American art Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska Arts organizations established in 1984 Biographical museums in Nebraska

Art museums and galleries in Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado ...

Historic house museums in Nebraska

Museum collection

History

Artist-in-residence program

See also

References

External links