The Cowboy, Frederic S. Remington, 1902

This painting was one of a series of four by Remington that was reproduced in the October 1902 issue of Scribner’s Magazine under the general title “Western Types.” Besides the cowboy, the other paintings depicted a scout, a “half-breed,” and a cavalryman. The paintings were also reproduced as separate prints, and they all proved to be popular with the public. The painting of The Cowboy shows Remington’s new awareness of color; harmonious tones of dusty yellow, light blue, and pale lavender in the desert landscape surround the rider and his horse. The story is told that John Howard, a boyhood friend of Remington’s, greatly admired the painting in the artist’s studio and asked its price. Although Remington quoted a far higher price than anticipated, Howard reluctantly agreed to write a check for the amount. Months passed without the check clearing the bank, and Howard found himself having to remind Remington several times about their transaction. One evening, as the two men were sitting together after a dinner at Remington’s house, the artist used a piece of paper to light their cigars. Once that was done, Remington informed his friend that the piece of paper was his check and the transaction had just been completed.

The Bronco Buster, Frederic S. Remington

The rise of the cowboy as the romantic hero of the American West began shortly after the Civil War, and Remington was one of the principal artists to play a part in that development. One of the cowboy’s most vocal supporters was the artist’s friend Theodore Roosevelt; the cowboy in Remington’s art reflects what Roosevelt had to say about the cowboy as hero. In a series of articles illustrated by Remington on his experiences as a ranchman in the Dakota Territory published in Century Magazine in 1888–89, Roosevelt described the cowboys he knew as “hardy and self-reliant as any men who ever breathed.” He praised the cowboy’s strength of character, which included a “frank and simple” approach to life, a “whole-souled hospitality” to others, and an air of “grave courtesy” to outsiders. By the time the writer Owen Wister published his novel The Virginian in 1902, such traits were embedded in the central character, thus beginning a long line of western heroes that would later appear in fiction and film. Not surprisingly, Wister dedicated his novel to Roosevelt.

An Indian Trapper by Frederic S. Remington

Frederic Sackrider Remington is considered one of the greatest illustrators of the late 19th-century American West. The artist acted as a correspondent and illustrator for various Eastern magazines, including Harper’s Weekly and Outing, and made some 3,000 views of Western life over a 25-year period, striving for visual accuracy and authentic reporting on the people and customs of the West. Remington possessed the sensitive Easterner’s perspective on the Western life, full of fascination and nostalgic concern. He traveled with military campaigns, worked as a cowboy, visited prospectors panning for gold, painted respectful portraits of Indians, and wrangled cattle and sheep for ranchers.