Robert Henri Museum

The Robert Henri Museum is a museum in Cozad, Nebraska. It was once the home of Robert Henri (previously Robert Henry Cozad), a prominent figure of the Ashcan School of art and one of “The Eight”. The Robert Henri Museum houses works by Robert Henri, including sketches, drawings, and paintings by the artist.

The museum is designated a non-profit educational 501(c)(3) organization and located at 218 East 8^th Street in Cozad, Nebraska.  It also houses items related to the history of Cozad, founded by his father John Jackson Cozad, with furnishings and other items owned by the family.  The museum lists its mission as “[T]o preserve the boyhood home of Robert Henri (Robert Henry Cozad) for public education and enjoyment, as well as to increase the general understanding of the appreciation of the arts.”

The museum was founded by a coalition of women of Cozad who saw an opportunity to honor both the history of the area and one of its more prominent former citizens.  The coalition purchased the home, then known as the Hendee Hotel. The group was led by Shirley Paulsen. Also included in the purchase was an adjacent historical walkway and original Pony Express Station, an historical church, and schoolhouse.  The purchase was made with both local support and donations from the family of Robert Henri and the Cozad family.  At that time, additional repairs and improvements were made to the building. Museum quality climate control and security was added in 2014, to safely maintain the art collection.

The growing art collection contains art by Robert Henri including “Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain.” It was donated by Janet LeClair in 1988.  Currently, the gallery displays more than 33 drawings, seven paintings, and assorted other items belonging to the artist. The most recent addition to the collection in 2017 was “Normandie Interior”, which was 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.

History

The original house was built by John Jackson Cozad, the father of Robert Henri and the founder of the city of Cozad, Nebraska.  The house was occupied by the Cozad family between 1873 and 1883.  It has what some have called a checkered history, because in 1883, John Cozad shot a local rancher named Alfred Pearson.  This dispute is said to have originated when Mr. Pearson’s cattle herd strayed onto John J. Cozard’s fields, ruining the crops. John J. Cozad attempted to bring the matter before the courts and was awaiting a court date to resolve the incident. However, the dispute erupted into violence when the two encountered one another at Julia Gatewood’s general store, a local gathering place for card players where Mr. Cozad was known to frequent to play faro, a card game of the period.  The two became involved in a shouting match, with Mr. Cozad insisting that Mr. Pearson not speak that way in front of Mr. Gatewood.  Mr. Pearson attempted to leave and continue the dispute, but insults were exchanged and a fist fight occurred.  Mr. Cozad took the matter a bit further and pulled a gun and shot Mr. Person, who died a month later. 

John Cozad returned home and fled to Denver that night, and his wife and sons were left to sell the home and reunite in Denver.  His parents took the names Richard and Tessa Lee, and his brother the name Frank Southern to escape the notoriety of the resulting murder charge.  Robert Henry Cozad, remained in Denver for a time, but eventually went on the New York to study art.  After a trip to Paris, he took the name Robert Henri.  The story is recounted in “Son of a Gambling Man” by Mari Sandoz.

Another infamous artist also lived in the home.  This was also the home of Miles Maryott, a near contemporary of Henri’s, described by the Omaha World Herald 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 Cozad Family

John Jackson Cozad, the original owner of the house and the father of Robert Henri, was born in 1830. When his mother died and his father remarried, he found living in the family home difficult and left it at the age of 12.  While working on steamboats for the next few years, he learned a card game popular that the time called faro.  He eventually joined the ranks of professional gamblers working the Mississippi and Ohio riverboats and other gambling establishments. 

He met the woman who would become his wife, Theresa Gatewood.  She was a daughter of a hotel owner from Malden, Virginia.  Once they married, he and his new wife settled in Cincinnati where they had six children, only two of which survived into adulthood. While working his way around the gambling circuit in 1872, John Cozad won $50,000, a huge sum at the time. 

John J. had the dream of founding a town that would carry his name.  First founding the town of Cozaddale, Ohio in 1871, and then the town of Cozad, Nebraska in 1872.  He placed advertising in several eastern newspapers encouraging people to move to this new town.  When people accepted his offer and moved west, he often found ways to employ them when the town hit hard times. Two such projects were a bridge building company and a haying operation.

Artist in Residence Program

The museum sponsors an artist-in-residence program. As of June of 2016, the artist-in-residence was Fred Cowie.  Dr. Cowie, a self-trained artist, received a doctorate in history.  He counts among his influences the art of Paul Cezanne, Rembrandt van Rijn and Claude Monet.  Both a painter and a jewelry artist, he practices his art on a daily basis by creating small paintings.

External links

• Official website