The Broncho Buster

Details

Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
The Broncho Buster
inscribed 'Copyright BY/Frederic Remington' and stamped 'ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N Y' (on the base)--inscribed 'No 161-' (under the base)
bronze with dark greenish-brown patina
22 ¼ in. (56.5 cm.) high
Cast in 1915.

Provenance

Tiffany & Co., New York.
Private collection, acquired from the above, 1916.
Orlando H. Frati, Sr., Bangor, Maine, by 1982.
Acquired by the late owners by 1989.

Literature

H. McCracken, Frederic Remington: Artist of the Old West, New York, 1947, n.p., pl. 41, another example illustrated.
P. Hassrick, Frederic Remington, Fort Worth, Texas, 1973, p. 33, no. 53, another example illustrated.
M.E. Shapiro, Cast and Recast: The Sculpture of Frederic Remington, exhibition catalogue, Washington, D.C., 1981, pp. 63-69, 88, another example illustrated.
M.E. Shapiro, P. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York, 1988, p. 172, pls. 47-48, another example illustrated.
J. Ballinger, Frederic Remington, New York, 1989, p. 74, another example illustrated.
M.D. Greenbaum, Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, pp. 51-64, 180, another example illustrated.

Lot Essay

Frederic Remington’s The Broncho Buster is one of the most iconic artworks of the American frontier. The bronze sculpture of a cowboy breaking in a wild horse was an immediate success, symbolizing all that was triumphant and heroic of the West. The artist observed, “my oils will all get old and watery...my watercolors will fade--but I am to endure in bronze...I am doing a cowboy on a bucking bronco and I am going to rattle down through the ages.” (as quoted in P. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York, 1988, p. 182)

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