62

VERSO
Label, J. N. Bartfield Galleries, New York, New York

“Two-Bits” is included in the Frederic Remington Catalogue Raisonné as number 535. An original bill of sale from J. N. Bartfield Galleries will accompany the lot.

William Coffin, writing for Scribner’s in 1892, noted that more than any other source, Frederic Remington’s paintings were chiefly responsible for Easterners’ conceptions of what life in the West was like. “The cavalryman, the Indian, the scout, the miner, and the ranchman, have furnished Frederic Remington with subjects that he illustrates with much vigor of line and striking effect.… In his pictures of life on the plains, and of Indian fighting, he has almost created a new field of illustration, so fresh and novel are his characterizations; and the hot, sandy plains, with soldiers marching doggedly under the burning sun, the vast prairies with the cowboys in lovely watch over their herds … are realized as they have never been before.”

Two-Bits was the central figure in a short-story written by U.S. Army Captain Charles Albert Curtis in 1889. A race-winning horse turned cavalry horse during the American Indian Wars, the story of Two-Bits graced the pages of St. Nicolas Magazine and was illustrated by Frederic Remington’s oil painting of the same name.

PROVENANCE
Melville Herman, New York
Private collection, by descent
Rosenstock Arts, Denver, Colorado
J. N. Bartfield Galleries, New York, New York
Private collection
J. N. Bartfield Galleries, New York, New York, 2008
Robert D. Reed Collection, Jacksonville, Florida

LITERATURE
St. Nicolas Magazine, November 1889, p. 35, illustrated

Condition ReportSurface is in good condition. Small spots of inpainting in the sky, and along left side. Hairline inpainting to the left of the horse and on tail.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.