Frederic Sackrider Remington (American, 1861-1909) Jew Smugglers and Refugees in the Hands of the Dragoons

Description:

Frederic Sackrider Remington (American, 1861-1909)

Jew Smugglers and Refugees in the Hands of the Dragoons, c. 1893
Signed "Frederic Remington" l.l., titled in inscription (probably in the artist's
hand) on the reverse, identified in inscriptions on the backing.
Watercolor en grisaille on paperboard, 21 x 28 1/2 in. (53.3 x 72.4 cm),framed.
Condition: Toning, unobtrusive surface rubs, losses at edges of sheet.

Provenance: Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Trower, Brockton, Massachusetts, then by descent to the current Massachusetts collector.

Literature: Hassrick, Peter and Webster, Melissa, Frederic Remington: A Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, Volume II. (Seattle: Buffalo Bill Historical Center and University of Washington Press, 1996); Illustrated No. 1748 on p. 492; Harper's Monthly, March 1894, Illustrated p. 611; and Bigelow, Poultney, The Borderland of Czar and Kaiser.(New York: Harper, 1895) Illustrated p. 119.

N.B. Born in Canton, New York, in 1861, Frederic Sackrider Remington showed artistic talent and interest at a young age. Son to a Civil War cavalry officer, Remington naturally had a fondness for horses and was a skilled rider. After briefly attending a military academy at age 15, Remington left to study art at Yale University in 1878. Although initially enthusiastic, he soon became bored and restless with the tedious routine of art instruction and turned to athletics where he became the Yale boxing champion and a football player. After his father died in 1880, Remington traveled out West. In the West he studied local characters and histories, befriending cowboys, saloon keepers, soldiers, Indians and William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody with whom he became great friends. Moving back to New York City, he began working as an illustrator while attending the Art Student's League. Remington began receiving regular commissions in publications such as Harper's Weekly and Century Magazine. The work presented here was published in the former, and reflects Remington's roots as an illustrator and his breadth of subject matter well beyond subjects of the West.

Estimate $25,000-35,000

N.B. Sold to benefit a Massachusetts non-profit institution.

There are several touches of brown watercolor within the composition. There are pencil cropping marks near the edges of the composition. The support is brittle, especially at the edges. These edges are worn and have numerous small losses.


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