The Briscoe Western Art Museum is an iconic landmark on the San Antonio Riverwalk scene. The multiple times we have visted San Antonio (one of our favorite SW cities) the Briscoe is on our calendar. This pictorial tour walks from E. Commerce St., which offers easy and inexpensive street parking(park across from the Rivercenter Parking garage), across the pedestrian bridge to E. Market St. and then one block away on the corner of W. Market and Presa St. sits the Briscoe Museum.
Cross the pedestrian bridge over the San Antonio River toward E. Market St. and take the sidewalk along E. Market so as to not miss the Riverwalk Public Art Gardens with sculptures by Sebastian, Ashley Mireles & Cade Bradshaw, Carlos Cortes & Droteo Garza, and Leticia Huerta. Cross the S. Alamo St. intersection and to your right is a photo opportunity of the Torch of Friendship. Continue on W. Market St. for one block; the Briscoe Museum is across the street on the left.
There is so much to see at The Briscoe that one visit is inadequate. The Briscoe presents an archetypical display of western art, and artifacts. This museum is not be overlooked, and the bonus is that it will be encountered as one strolls the exceptional San Antonio Riverwalk (the Briscoe backs up to the Riverwalk in the midst of the hotel district on the River). Just as other noteworthy western museums we have celebrated in other articles, the Briscoe presents our Western heritage through paintings, sculptures, and the artifacts of the vaquero, Native American Indian, and the cowboy. This building first served as San Antonio’s public library in the 1930’s. It was renovated and opened in 2013 in honor of Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. and his wife Janey Slaughter Briscoe. The museum contains permanent galleries, the McNutt Outdoor Sculpture Garden, the Hollywood Western exhibit, and new and changing exhibitions. This is a completely dynamic museum that continually charges the senses, both visually and expressively with its historical imagery and artifacts. It was difficult picking photos to include in this essay as there is so much quality material at the Briscoe. We have paid particular attention to presenting photos of the color plate book, Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio, by George Catlin. His significant contribution, like that of photographer Edward S. Curtis (see my essay on The Brinton Museum), documents the lives of the American Indian in paintings. Due to the extensive photographs that were amassed we have broken the pictorial storyline into several parts: Briscoe-Overview and Critique; Briscoe-McNutt Outdoor Sculpture Garden; Briscoe-Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio; Briscoe-Saddles, Artifacts and Western Culture.
The Takeaway: A proper Western museum displaying Native American artifacts, truly historic pieces of Western Saddlery, and Western paintings and sketches. Of serious note is the color plate book of George Catlin documenting the life of the American Indian. Located on the banks of the San Antonio Riverwalk this is one attraction not to bypass. This exemplary representation of Western history in a multi-story building offers some of the finest artifacts, paintings and sculptures. Go to www.rickpicks.com for more photographs, other reviews, critiques and essays with links to area attractions and a more detailed review of rv parks as well as reviews of restaurants, etc.
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