Sheriff of Pecos (1931–32): Art, History and Details

Sheriff of Pecos (1931–32) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Russell Barnett Aitken (American, 1910–2002).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Figural studies were emphasized in ceramics classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule, where Clevelanders Viktor Schreckengost and Russell Barnett Aitken studied in 1929–30. Aitken absorbed the Viennese style of exaggeration and caricature as seen in this depiction of a popular folk hero of the Wild West, incorporating such motifs into his work for the rest of his career.

Object facts

• Title: Sheriff of Pecos
• Date: 1931–32
• Creator attribution: Russell Barnett Aitken (American, 1910–2002)
• Culture: America, Ohio, Cleveland
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: ceramic
• Dimensions: Overall: 29 x 15 x 22 cm (11 7/16 x 5 7/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 2013.357

A detail from the museum

Caricature, or the exaggeration of prominent features, was a hallmark of Russell Barnett Aitken's style of modeling figures.

Collection credit

Gift of Irene Roosevelt Aitken

Further reading listed by the museum

• Russell Barnett Aitken Entry Card to 1932 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Aitken, Russell. Russell Barnett Aitken Collection. Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.