The Mexican Major
Om maleriet
Frederic Remington was greatly impressed by the Mexican army, which he observed during a six-week visit to Mexico in 1889 in preparation for an article in Harper’s Weekly magazine. The Mexican Major is an elaborate, multifigural composition, designed to convey the professionalism, discipline, and “immensely picturesque” appearance of the officer and his regiment. Remington enjoyed the soldiers' ornate costumes, and he emphasized these through the use of rhythmic, flashing colors and the depiction of brilliant light. The line of horsemen stretches off into the far distance—a sign of honor, strength, and dignity.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Oplysninger
- Inventarnummer
- 1982.804
Imens i livet hos Frederic Remington
Hele livet1887
Eighty-three illustrations for Theodore Roosevelt's book
He receives a commission to do eighty-three illustrations for Theodore Roosevelt's book Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, to be serialized in The Century Magazine. The 29-year-old Roosevelt had a Western adventure similar to Remington's, losing money on a ranch in North Dakota the previous year. The assignment gives Remington's career a big boost and forges a lifelong connection with Roosevelt.
1887–1889
“Return of the Blackfoot War Party” at the National Academy
His full-colour oil painting Return of the Blackfoot War Party is exhibited at the National Academy of Design, and the New York Herald comments that Remington will one day be listed among America's great painters. Not all critics admire him, but his work is deemed distinctive and modern.
1889
A second-class medal at the Paris Exposition
He wins a second-class medal at the Paris Exposition: the American committee chose him to represent American painting over Albert Bierstadt, whose majestic large-scale landscapes with tiny figures of pioneers and Indians were by then considered passé. His status as the new trendsetter in Western art is solidified.
1890
At the scene of the Wounded Knee massacre
He arrives on the scene just after the massacre at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, in which about 150 Sioux, mostly women and children, were killed. In his report, “The Sioux Outbreak in South Dakota”, he hails the Army's “heroic” actions toward the Indians.
