Two Centuries: American Art

Two Centuries: American Art

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 36. The Rattlesnake.

Property from an American Collector

Frederic Remington

The Rattlesnake

Lot Closed

March 3, 05:37 PM GMT

Estimate

80,000 - 120,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property from an American Collector

Frederic Remington

1861 - 1909

The Rattlesnake


inscribed copyright / Frederic Remington (on the base) and ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N-Y- (along the base); also numbered N 44 (beneath the base)

bronze with dark brown and green patina

height: 24 inches (61 cm)

Modeled in 1905; cast in 1915.

Private collection, Pennsylvania
Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, 1989
J.N. Bartfield Galleries, New York
Private collection
The Jordan-Volpe Gallery, Inc., New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1992
Bruce Wear, The Bronze World of Frederic Remington, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1966, pp. 78-79, another example illustrated
Harold McCracken, The Frederic Remington Book: A Pictorial History of the West, Garden City, New York, 1966, n.p., fig. 374, another example illustrated
Peter Hassrick, Frederic Remington: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture in the Amon Carter Museum and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation Collections, New York, 1973, no. 88, pp. 200-201, another example illustrated
Patricia Janis Broder, Bronzes of the American West, New York, 1974, p. 128, another example illustrated
Michael Edward Shapiro, Cast and Recast: The Sculpture of Frederic Remington, Washington, D.C., 1981, p. 110, figs. 49-50, other examples illustrated
Michael Edward Shapiro and Peter Hassrick, Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York, 1988, pp. 67, 210, 211, 213, another example illustrated
Michael D. Greenbaum, Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, pp. 123-128, 197, other examples illustrated
Remington first modeled The Rattlesnake in 1904, with the intent of exploring the technical problems of such a complex and active composition, combined with the additional challenge of twisting the horse beneath itself as it recoils from the snake. As Peter Hassrick has written: "The Rattlesnake (sometimes referred to as The Snake in the Path) is Remington's most graceful, sculptural rendition of the bucking horse in motion. The powerful thrust of the frightened horse and the desperate counterbalancing of the rider are expressed with a vigorous sweep and flow that make this bronze both eloquent and powerful. All movement and attention focus on a central point. All lines within the swirling configuration are directed toward one thing, the inconspicuous but deadly rattler in the foreground" (Frederic Remington: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture in the Amon Carter Museum and The Sid W. Richardson Foundation Collections, New York, 1973, p. 200).