LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 May Signature Texas Arts Auction #653  / 

36449

H. W. CAYLOR, Early Texas Art, o/c

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:24,000.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD
H. W. CAYLOR, Early Texas Art, o/c
<B>H. W. CAYLOR (1867-1932)</B></I><BR><I>Rush For Water</B></I> <BR>Oil on canvas<BR>20in. x 30in.<BR>Signed lower right<BR><BR>H. W. Caylor was primarily a self-taught artist. From a young age he was constantly drawing with crayon or charcoal. He took his first job as a cowboy at the young age of twelve. He worked in Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, as a cow puncher and itinerant artist. Around 1890, he moved to Big Spring, Texas, and from his modest savings from painting he purchased a horse drawn wagon. He and his wife lived several years in that wagon until 1889 when he was able to purchase a half-section of land. From this point, Caylor pursued both of his great passions, ranching and art.<BR><BR>In the late 1920s, Dallas artist Edward Eisenlohr gave his opinion that Caylor was one of the great western artists. J. Frank Dobie after Caylor's death remarked....."his deep appeal to men who drove up the trail, faced blizzards, loved horses and regarded Longhorns as symbols for Texas itself -- his deep appeal through his art for these men marks him as important, significant and genuine."<BR><BR>Caylor's paintings rank up there with Charles M. Russell for their sincere expression of the cowboy and ranching life. Caylor lived it, he loved it, and he painted it -- all from first-hand experience.<BR><BR>This H. W. Caylor masterpiece is illustrated on page 26, plate 1, of the book <I>H. W. Caylor Frontier Artist,</B></I> by Texas A&M University Press. Of the painting the book says, "The lack of water ranked as the foremost hazard of trail drivers in western Texas. Streams and waterholes were sometimes separated by distances that required several days' travel. At the end of such a forced journey cattle were crazed with thirst. Before they could see water, they could smell it, and cowboys trying to keep the herd together faced a situation not unlike the feared stampede. <I>Rush For Water</B></I> depicts such a mad break, probably along the Pecos or the Devil's River. Pioneers who used oxen for pulling wagon trains and plows discovered to their sorrow that these brutes also had an uncontrollable urge to bolt when they were tempted by the smell of water."<BR><BR>H. W. Caylor was not a prolific painter. Many of his paintings are closely held and have stayed in the same families for several generations. In addition, this is one of the finest (and published) H. W. Caylor paintings in existence. This is a rare chance for a major Texas collector to own a true Texas masterpiece.<BR><BR>Published:<BR><I>H. W. Caylor Frontier Artist,</B></I> by Texas A&M University Press<BR><BR> <B>Condition Report:</B> Excellent condition with no restorations. Period frame in excellent condition.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Requires 3rd Party Shipping (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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