A Dance of Crow Indians

Details

HENRY F. FARNY (1847-1916)
A Dance of Crow Indians
signed '·Farny·' with artist's device (lower right)
gouache en grisaille on paper
14 1⁄4 x 21 3⁄4 in. (36.2 x 55.2 cm.)
Executed circa 1883.

Provenance

A.B. Closson, Jr. Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Private collection, Miami, Florida, acquired from the above, 1963.
Christie's, New York, 23 May 2001, lot 86, sold by the above.
Acquired by the late owner from the above.

Literature

"Dance of the Crow Indians," Harper's Weekly, December 15, 1883, p. 800, illustrated.
H. McCracken, Portrait of the Old West, New York, 1952, p. 171, illustrated.
M. Palkovic, Wurlitzer of Cincinnati: The Name that Means Music to Millions, Charleston, South Carolina, 2015, p. 51, illustrated.

Exhibited

New York, University Club, February-April 1963, no. 7 (as Passengers Watching Indian Dance).
Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Henry F. Farny, 1965, no. 3.
Cincinnati, Ohio, Indian Hill Historical Museum Association, Henry F. Farny, 1975, no. 29, illustrated.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Tylee Abbott Senior Vice President, Head of American Art

tabbott@christies.com +1 212 707 5925

Lot Essay

The present work was reproduced as an illustration for the article "Dance of the Crow Indians" published in the December 15, 1883 edition of Harper's Weekly. The author writes, "The Northern Pacific Railway crosses their reservation, which lies on the Upper Yellowstone, under the shadows of the Belt Range of the Rockies, and when the excursion which formally opened the road passed through their domain, the Crows celebrated the occasion by a series of 'grass' dances, which were the most picturesque episode of that notable journey...The lurid light of the camp fires, deafening drum-beat, jingling bells of the dancers, and weird monotonous chant of the singers were echoed by the whistle of the locomotives as the excursion trains successively drew up." ("Dance of the Crow Indians," Harper's Weekly, December 15, 1883, p. 799)

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