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Lot Essay
Frederic Remington's iconic images celebrate life as it was lived on the Western frontier. Conceived in 1904, The Rattlesnake depicts the heroism of a lone cowboy fighting to control his horse as it rears from the deadly rattlesnake beneath them. The horseman holds the reins with his right hand as he reaches up with his left, about to throw his hat over the snake's dangerous coils. The rearing horse and rider are posed in a circular sweep of motion; an extremely complex and active composition that was among Remington's most challenging technical undertakings.
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 flow 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." (P.H. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture in the Amon Carter Museum and The Sid W. Richardson Foundation Collections, New York, 1973, p. 200)
The Rattlesnake was Remington's twelfth statuette, and it became one of his most popular works. A 1905 review of the bronze that appeared in Collier's magazine praised the way it evidenced the artist's "marvelous knowledge of anatomy, action and expression," further calling it "the work of a master's hand." (as quoted in M.D. Greenbaum, Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, p. 123) According to Michael Greenbaum, only the first twenty castings of The Rattlesnake were produced during Remington's lifetime. Approximately one hundred authorized castings, including the present cast from 1913, were produced by Roman Bronze Works before the artist's estate ordered the destruction of the models around 1920.
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 flow 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." (P.H. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture in the Amon Carter Museum and The Sid W. Richardson Foundation Collections, New York, 1973, p. 200)
The Rattlesnake was Remington's twelfth statuette, and it became one of his most popular works. A 1905 review of the bronze that appeared in Collier's magazine praised the way it evidenced the artist's "marvelous knowledge of anatomy, action and expression," further calling it "the work of a master's hand." (as quoted in M.D. Greenbaum, Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, p. 123) According to Michael Greenbaum, only the first twenty castings of The Rattlesnake were produced during Remington's lifetime. Approximately one hundred authorized castings, including the present cast from 1913, were produced by Roman Bronze Works before the artist's estate ordered the destruction of the models around 1920.