133

Remington, Frederic (1861 - 1909)

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:150,000.00 USD Estimated At:150,000.00 - 185,000.00 USD
Remington, Frederic (1861 - 1909)
<strong>Remington, Frederic </strong>
(1861 - 1909)

<strong>The Three Bandits Were Led Back to the Path, ca. 1899</strong>

pen,ink wash and gouache on paper
25 1/2 x 38 inches (sight)
signed lower right: <i>Frederic Remington</i>

Remington had already established himself as a talented illustrator of popular magazines when he went to Cuba shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898 as an eager correspondent for <i>Harper's Weekly</i> and the <i>New York Journal.</i> This was Remington's first glimpse of real fighting, and his romantic preconceptions of the glories of the battlefield quickly vanished. He returned to Cuba again in February 1899 as a correspondent for <i>Collier's Weekly,</i> this time to document the occupation of Cuba by the United States after the war had ended. As Remington witnessed, the U.S. troops stationed there were trying to maintain order in the face of unexpected attacks by guerilla fighters. Remington returned from his trips to Cuba with a more sober and realistic view of warfare, and this shift in his thinking can be seen in illustrations such as this one, done in halftone for <i>Harper's Monthly.</i>

In <i>The Three Bandits Were Led Back Into the Path,</i> a group of American soldiers, some on horseback and some standing, have captured three bandits, and led them back to the cleared path. The stern expressions on the soldiers' faces reflect the serious nature of the interrogation as they surround their captives. The artist contrasted the dark, sober colors of the Americans' uniforms and their mounts with the white shirts and hats of the bandits; light reflects off
the latter, illuminating the exact center of the picture. This balanced composition afforded Remginton the opportunity to depict figures in many different poses: facing forward
and backward, seen in profile, and seated atop horses. As always, he paid careful attention to the detail of the soldiers' uniforms, down to the belts of extra ammunition strapped around their waists. - DW


Provenance:
Mr. & Mrs. William Healey
Private Collection, Texas

Literature:
Illustration: <i>Harper's Monthly,</i> July 1899, p. 288, halftone
Remington ledger book of paintings, 1898-1902. No. FRAM 71.840.
Frederic
Remington Art Museum Archives, Ogdensburg, New York, pp.12, 467
Helen L. Card, <i>Frederic Remington, 1861-1909: Art Historian of the Old West. </i>
Scrapbooks of Remington illustrations, compiled ca. 1944, vol. 1-5. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, p. 362
Harold McCracken, <i>Frederic Remington: Artist of the Old West,</i> Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1947, p. 133
James K. Ballinger, <i>Frederic Remington's Southwest,</i> Phoenix, Arizona: Phoenix
Art Museum, 1992, pp. 52, 53
Peter Hassrick & Melissa J. Webster, <i>Frederic Remington: A Catalogue Raisonne
of Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings,</i> 2 vols. Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill
Historical Center, 1996, vol. II, p. 687, no. 2439
Emily Ballew Neff with Wynne H. Phelan, <i>Frederic Remington: The Hogg Brothers
Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts,</i> Houston. Princeton, New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 2000