Frederic Remington | Coming Through the Rye | 1902 | Bronze | Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas
About the Work
In 1889 Remington made his debut as a serious painter. In July
he was awarded a silver medal at the Universal Exposition in Paris
for his painting The Last Lull in the Fight, a signal honor for any
American artist. The following September he exhibited another
action painting, A Dash for the Timber, at the annual exhibition at
the National Academy of Design in New York and received warm
praise in the press. “This work marks an advance on the part of one
of the strongest of our younger artists,” declared the New York Herald.
“The drawing is true and strong, the figures of men and horses are
in fine action, tearing along at full gallop, the sunshine effect is
realistic and the color is good.” Remington was immensely pleased
by the reviews—more so because the painting also proved to be the
most popular with the visitors to the exhibition. Even today, this
masterful painting remains a tour de force of raw action, partly due
to Remington’s extraordinary ability to paint horses in rapid motion
from almost any angle. In this work, the perception of movement is
also reinforced by the artist’s choice of vantage point; the viewer is
placed directly in front of the oncoming group, nearly at their level,
becoming part of the action. One needs to be reminded that this
painting was created a generation before the first western films, yet
its visual effect is purely immediate and cinematic. Looking at the
individual figures, one may also see the artistic sources for a number
of Remington’s later action figures in bronze—particularly The
Wounded Bunkie, which is on display nearby.
