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Lot Essay
Henry Farny made his first trip to the West in 1881 and became an active participant in the social life of the Indians who lived near Fort Yates along the Missouri River. He returned again in 1883 and 1884 and continued to visit until his last trip in 1894. During these trips, Farny gathered materials for the oil paintings and gouaches he would later complete in his Cincinnati, Ohio, studio.
Between 1893 and 1912, Farny began to shift his interest towards light effects, treating his Native American subject more as an element within his landscape compositions. Painted in 1901, Pastures New delights in the contrast between the pale purple cliffs and striking yellow sky of twilight. Denny Carter notes, "His predilection for sunsets and hazy twilight scenes heightened the serenity created by his balanced compositions producing a tranquil, peaceful mood. The quietism and luminism of Farny's late work are manifestations of a long tradition in American art, particularly practiced by earlier artists such as John Kensett, Fitz Hugh Lane, and Martin Johnson Heade. Their paintings often emphasized a pronounced horizon line, water with its reflections, and soft harmonious light. Farny's late paintings, then, did not break new artistic ground but rather represented the application of older concepts to the western genre...Even though Farny is known primarily as a painter of Indians, his depiction of the light and mood of the Western landscape will probably remain his most lasting contribution to American art." (Henry Farny, New York, 1978, p. 34)
Between 1893 and 1912, Farny began to shift his interest towards light effects, treating his Native American subject more as an element within his landscape compositions. Painted in 1901, Pastures New delights in the contrast between the pale purple cliffs and striking yellow sky of twilight. Denny Carter notes, "His predilection for sunsets and hazy twilight scenes heightened the serenity created by his balanced compositions producing a tranquil, peaceful mood. The quietism and luminism of Farny's late work are manifestations of a long tradition in American art, particularly practiced by earlier artists such as John Kensett, Fitz Hugh Lane, and Martin Johnson Heade. Their paintings often emphasized a pronounced horizon line, water with its reflections, and soft harmonious light. Farny's late paintings, then, did not break new artistic ground but rather represented the application of older concepts to the western genre...Even though Farny is known primarily as a painter of Indians, his depiction of the light and mood of the Western landscape will probably remain his most lasting contribution to American art." (Henry Farny, New York, 1978, p. 34)