The shirts from Brokeback are now on display at the Autry National Center of the American West.
But how they got there is interesting. After Tom Gregory brought the iconic shirts for $101,100 on Ebay, they were hanging on his office wall. That was until Gregory Hinton called him on New Year's Eve.
“I was doing researching on ‘Night Rodeo,’ my fifth novel about my dad Kip (former editor of the Cody Enterprise) and wondered what happened to the shirts that were such an important prop in the film,” Hinton said. So he tracked down Gregory and proposed the idea to the Autry, along with the Gay Rodeo Legacy Project, which evolved into the symposium “Gay in the West: Reclaiming Our Country Heritage." The event will address the urban-rural bias, and will be this fall. The shirts will be at the Autry on lone for a year.
Gregory felt “the shirts hold deep meaning for so many, especially those 50 and older that could relate to the anguish and isolation of Ennis".
The Autry known for exploring all peoples of the American West, thought it was perfect for the museum . Jeffrey Richardson, assistant curator for film and popular culture, got involved and the project was pulled it together in six months.
The shirts are part of a re-installation of the Contemporary Westerns case that displays memorabilia and art from significant films since the 1970s, such as “Unforgiven” and “Tom Horn.”, “Wild Bill,” as well as gun belts and revolvers from the western comedy spoof “Three Amigos!”
Autry National Center of the American West
Something this good has to be shared.
Here is the link to pictures of Austin over at Spooky's
Austin looking hot on set - Austin Nichols Journal
