The Old Dragoons of 1850

Frederic RemingtonWW-1905-142380

1905·Bronze with black patina·73 × 119.3 × 43.8 cm (28 3/4 × 47 × 17 1/4 in.)

<p><em>The Old Dragoons of 1850</em> is another feat of Frederic Remington’s technical achievement. Stretching, twisting men and horses move at top speed, depicted by Remington in an arrested moment in time. The complex sculpture suggests the chaos of eyewitness observation, yet it also achieves the choreographed monumentality and unity of synthetic composition. Remington designed his three-dimensional works after the drawings and photographs he made on his trips to the West, and the ability to freeze motion photographically undoubtedly fed the force and dynamism of his sculpture.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1905
Medium: Bronze with black patina
Dimensions: 73 × 119.3 × 43.8 cm (28 3/4 × 47 × 17 1/4 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Frederic Remington

Artist

Frederic Remington

Sculpture

Known for his dramatic depictions of the American Old West, Frederic Remington captured the swift action and mythic figures of a rapidly disappearing frontier with exceptional narrative detail. His bronze sculptures, paintings and illustrations evince a reverent nostalgia; of his chosen subject matter, Remington reflected: “I knew the wild riders and vacant land were about to vanish forever.” With his facility for textural detail and dynamic storytelling, Remington distinguished himself as one of the leading chroniclers of late 19th-century frontier life. In the words of his friend Theodore Roosevelt: “The soldier, the cowboy and rancher, the Indian, the horses and the cattle of the plains, will live in his pictures and bronzes, I verily believe, for all time.”

Kansas City

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