201

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

Two Braves will be included in Michael R. Grauer’s forthcoming W. Herbert Dunton Catalogue Raisonné.

According to art historian Michael R. Grauer, “Between about 1909 and 1918 in both Mexico and the area around Taos, Dunton posed and painted en plein air lone American Indians or cowboys, or groups of American Indians or cowboys, and sometimes vaqueros. In this series of vertical paintings of American Indians – which probably incorporate the same model posed in the same spot in the Taos desert or mountains – all done between about 1912 and 1916, and usually either 20 by 16 or 16 by 12 inches. These include Winter Camp of the Sioux; Blackfeet; The Chief; Crows; and Crow Outlier. Two Braves is considerably larger than the other paintings in this group.

“The paintings in this ‘series’ also exhibit the same expressive brushwork and heavy impasto, a characteristic Dunton learned from the American Impressionists whose work he saw in Boston and New York from 1903 to 1915. Having been a studio painter formerly, Dunton promoted his role as a plein air – and therefore avant-garde – painter after 1912. The New York Herald (1914) reported that ‘he paints right out of doors – begins, finishes and even signs his paintings out in the open.’ And Scribner’s (1916) noted that Dunton ‘believes in painting direct from nature, and spares himself no trouble to get his effects, setting forth at times with models and half a dozen ponies … to paint them in a wind-storm, with his canvas anchored against the stiff breeze by big boulders.’

“Dunton’s rendering of the sage and chamisa in the foreground of Two Braves as well as his depictions of the cliffs in the middle and background, and the procession in the canyon bottom, demonstrate how he toyed with the dissolution of forms through dynamic brushwork, common to impressionist painting. We also see in the sky and clouds in the background an almost pointilliste brushstroke. The juxtaposition of these components with the square-jawed look of the main figure, along with his distinctive hairstyle often associated with the Blackfeet, and his lance, quiver, shield, red beaded moccasins, and sitting on a buffalo robe while riding his paint horse, speak to Dunton’s extensive knowledge of Northern Plains tribes. The procession in the canyon bottom, including a woman with cradleboard on her back riding a black horse pulling a travois, underscores Dunton’s skill in building a complete Northern Plains domestic scene. Moreover, none of the ‘braves’ are painted for war, so this could be described as a ‘moving camp’ composition.

“Two Braves also shows the influence of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell on Dunton’s work. Dunton recognized both as ‘Old Masters’ of Western art. After Remington died in 1909, some critics even felt only Dunton possessed the ‘ability to carry on the work where [Frederic] Remington left off’ and he was called ‘the Remington of the Southwest.’”

PROVENANCE
H. Clayton Peterson, Denver, Colorado, 1980
Present owner, by descent

Condition ReportSurface is in good condition. Canvas is lined. Hairline cracks in the sky with small spots of inpainting.

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.