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拍品专文
The subject of the cowboy was always a central and important theme to Frederic Remington's work. The artist had written in 1895 that "with me, cowboys are what gems and porcelains are to some others." ("Cracker Cowboys of Florida," Harper's Monthly, April 1895, p. 329) Remington's keen observations and unabashed love for the cowboy and his way of life found direct expression in many of his published drawings and paintings. He also maintained an extensive collection of photographs that contained related images of rearing horses and cowboys that he drew upon for developing the intricate modeling found in his sculptures. The Outlaw, a subject derived from Remington's cachet of works devoted to the rearing horse and rider, reflected the artist's incredible attention to detail combined with the ingenious rendering of a specific action, intense movement and sublime balance.
Charles H. Caffin commented in a December 1898 issue of Harper's Weekly that "there is no question of [Remington's] mental picture. It is of the most vivid and assured kind, resulting from a faculty of observation quite extraordinary in its comprehensiveness. What he has seen in his study of horses and their riders he has seen with such completeness that he can record with accuracy an action which passed before his eyes like a flash." (as quoted in M.E. Shapiro, "Frederic Remington: The Sculptor," in Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York, 1988, p. 192)
In a 1905 Christmas card to Roman Bronze Works owner, Riccardo Bertelli, Remington drew a sketch for the model of The Outlaw and posed the question, "Can you cast this?" and playfully added his own response on behalf of Bertelli, "Do you think I am one of the Wright brothers?" The dramatic and ambitious pose of the figure on the bucking horse would be an exciting challenge for both the artist and foundry. Fifteen casts of The Outlaw were produced during Remington's lifetime. As a result, the approximately twenty-five remaining casts produced by Roman Bronze Works following the artist's death were altered by the foundry and lacked the complex rendering and attention to detail that the artist placed on each cast he had previously overseen. The present example, cast number 14, retains the artful balance and sophisticated posturing that demonstrates both Remington's and Bertelli's bold and experimental use of the bronze medium.
"Throughout his career Remington depicted in two and three dimensions the tenacity and balance of the 'wild riders'--the men who tamed saddle horses. He wrote that, 'the 'bucking' process is entered into with great spirit by the pony but once, and that is when he is first under the saddle-tree. If that 'scrape' is 'ridden out' by his master the broncho's spirit is broken." (as quoted in M.D. Greenbaum, Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, p. 133) The Outlaw is Remington's ultimate tribute to the rapidly changing era of the cowboy that he had devoted his life and art to documenting.
Charles H. Caffin commented in a December 1898 issue of Harper's Weekly that "there is no question of [Remington's] mental picture. It is of the most vivid and assured kind, resulting from a faculty of observation quite extraordinary in its comprehensiveness. What he has seen in his study of horses and their riders he has seen with such completeness that he can record with accuracy an action which passed before his eyes like a flash." (as quoted in M.E. Shapiro, "Frederic Remington: The Sculptor," in Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York, 1988, p. 192)
In a 1905 Christmas card to Roman Bronze Works owner, Riccardo Bertelli, Remington drew a sketch for the model of The Outlaw and posed the question, "Can you cast this?" and playfully added his own response on behalf of Bertelli, "Do you think I am one of the Wright brothers?" The dramatic and ambitious pose of the figure on the bucking horse would be an exciting challenge for both the artist and foundry. Fifteen casts of The Outlaw were produced during Remington's lifetime. As a result, the approximately twenty-five remaining casts produced by Roman Bronze Works following the artist's death were altered by the foundry and lacked the complex rendering and attention to detail that the artist placed on each cast he had previously overseen. The present example, cast number 14, retains the artful balance and sophisticated posturing that demonstrates both Remington's and Bertelli's bold and experimental use of the bronze medium.
"Throughout his career Remington depicted in two and three dimensions the tenacity and balance of the 'wild riders'--the men who tamed saddle horses. He wrote that, 'the 'bucking' process is entered into with great spirit by the pony but once, and that is when he is first under the saddle-tree. If that 'scrape' is 'ridden out' by his master the broncho's spirit is broken." (as quoted in M.D. Greenbaum, Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, p. 133) The Outlaw is Remington's ultimate tribute to the rapidly changing era of the cowboy that he had devoted his life and art to documenting.