.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
In The Mountain Man, Frederic Remington effectively captures a scene of frontier life as a trapper and horse sharply descend a rugged pass. Because Remington wished to emphasize the high, steep slope of the mountain path, The Mountain Man is several inches higher than his other bronzes. Remington's ninth sculpture, like so much of his most successful art, depicts a figure type of the Old West. Initially conceived in 1903, The Mountain Man was one of the first examples of Remington's work acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art for its permanent collection.
After spending two years as one of the first students in Yale University's newly formed Art School, Remington traveled west in 1880 and became enamored with the lifestyle he experienced in Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. Drawing upon his extensive sketches from his travels, Remington was soon able to gain recognition as an illustrator for publications such as Harper's Weekly and The Century Magazine. Critics and the public alike were drawn to the stunning realism of his work and his sculptures found immediate success.
Michael Greenbaum comments that "during Remington's lifetime, The Mountain Man was one of his most critically accepted works. It was one of two groups purchased in 1905 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art and one of four subjects bought in 1907 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It remains one of his most enduring sculptural works, a striking representational image of the frontier." (Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, p. 107)
Early in his career, Remington was commissioned by Theodore Roosevelt to complete illustrations for his many articles on Western themes and specifically the Dakota Territories. Remington's drawings contained a remarkable sense of action and detail, while revealing an understated reverence for his subjects, all qualities that translated into his sculptures. Roosevelt would later say of Remington: "he has portrayed a most characteristic and yet vanishing type of American life. The soldier, the cowboy and rancher, the Indian, the horses and cattle of the plains, will live in his pictures and bronzes, I verily believe, for all time." ("An Appreciation of the Art of Frederic Remington," Pearson's Magazine, October 1907, vol. 18, p. 392)
After spending two years as one of the first students in Yale University's newly formed Art School, Remington traveled west in 1880 and became enamored with the lifestyle he experienced in Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. Drawing upon his extensive sketches from his travels, Remington was soon able to gain recognition as an illustrator for publications such as Harper's Weekly and The Century Magazine. Critics and the public alike were drawn to the stunning realism of his work and his sculptures found immediate success.
Michael Greenbaum comments that "during Remington's lifetime, The Mountain Man was one of his most critically accepted works. It was one of two groups purchased in 1905 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art and one of four subjects bought in 1907 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It remains one of his most enduring sculptural works, a striking representational image of the frontier." (Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, p. 107)
Early in his career, Remington was commissioned by Theodore Roosevelt to complete illustrations for his many articles on Western themes and specifically the Dakota Territories. Remington's drawings contained a remarkable sense of action and detail, while revealing an understated reverence for his subjects, all qualities that translated into his sculptures. Roosevelt would later say of Remington: "he has portrayed a most characteristic and yet vanishing type of American life. The soldier, the cowboy and rancher, the Indian, the horses and cattle of the plains, will live in his pictures and bronzes, I verily believe, for all time." ("An Appreciation of the Art of Frederic Remington," Pearson's Magazine, October 1907, vol. 18, p. 392)