Signed, "Frederic Remington"; Inscribed, "Copyright by Frederic Remington" on top of base; Inscribed, "ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N-Y-" on side of base; Marked, "No 58" on bottom of base.
This was Remington’s second most popular work after The Bronco Buster (0827.34). About 90 casts of the large version of The Rattlesnake were sold between 1909 and 1920, only nine of which were produced during his lifetime. The first model of The Rattlesnake was reworked in 1908 by the artist after 11 bronzes had been cast between 1905 and 1908. He transformed it by changing the pose of the cowboy, tucking the horse’s rear legs and making it three inches taller. This is the larger later version. The retail price of $325 was not increased for the larger size and may have influenced the foundry to expend less care on finishing the larger versions.
From the exhibition:Frontier to Foundry: the Making of Small Bronze Sculpture in the Gilcrease Collection, December 2014 - March 2015.
Ann Boulton Young, Associate Conservator for the Gilcrease Museum, 2014.
Curatorial Remarks:
This bronze is cast number 58. Gilcrease records and Greenbaum inaccurately identify this as cast number 28. Although there is no date of sale for it in the ledger, cast numbers 56, 57, 60, and 61 all sold in 1918.
Information given by Ann Boulton Young, Associate Conservator for the Gilcrease Museum, 2018
Remington is known as one of the premier artist of the American West. During the 1880s, he traveled through the Dakotas, Montana, the Arizona Territory, and Texas, returning to New York in 1885, with the desire to record the vanishing wilderness. In 1895, he began to exhibit his bronzes of cowboys and horses in motion. After 1900, his illustrative style shifted to one of Impressionism, as he became influenced by the work of Monet, Childe Hassam, and John H. Twatchman. In addition to his paintings and sculpture, he wrote eight books and numerous short stories on the Wild West. Comment on works: western
Related People:
Frederic Remington Art Museum, related to - any American art museum, Ogdensburg, founded 1923
Remington, Eva Caten, spouse of - person American wife of artist, died 1918
