2026 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction18 / 80 • View Catalog •
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Art historian Michael Grauer noted that William Herbert Dunton’s illustrations, particularly in Riders of the Purple Sage, captured the era’s fascination with the American West: “W. Herbert Dunton’s meteoric rise as an illustrator of Western subjects coincided with the ‘cowboy-craze’ that swept the United States following the publication of Owen Wister’s The Virginian in 1902. While dime Western novels had circulated since the 1870s and Wild West shows had toured since the early 1880s, Wister’s Virginian codified the mythological Cowboy Hero – which later expanded to include a Cowgirl Heroine – in the American consciousness.
“Unlike most artists who only ‘played cowboy’ briefly to illustrate Western stories, Dunton became at least a part-time Westerner from 1896 to 1915. His work as a cowboy and hunter equipped him to lend authenticity to his illustrations. During his stays in the West, he made sketches in watercolor and pencil, later using them upon his return to Boston and New York. As a result, Dunton’s Western figures, characters, and situations look and ‘feel’ authentic. Dunton’s West was not a fantasy; it was real!
“While Dunton’s cowboy illustrations followed established patterns, his renderings of Western women marked a more singular contribution to Western art. Julie Schimmel, author of The Life and Art of W. Herbert Dunton (1985), argued that, ‘Dunton, probably more than any other illustrator of the West, portrayed Western women not simply as they stood by the side of a cowboy but as they independently took on the West.’
“By 1908, Dunton had made inroads with the New York art establishment and was elected to the Salmagundi Club, where he met Ernest Blumenschein. Dunton admitted to Blumenschein his growing dissatisfaction with illustration. ‘If you don’t quit now, you’ll never quit,’ Blumenschein told him, encouraging Dunton to visit Taos, New Mexico, and paint the spirit of the West, rather than just cowboys and Indians. In June 1912, Dunton visited the village and stayed for two summers. ‘I had wanted to paint for some time,’ Dunton said. ‘I finally decided to get at it before I was too old. I had begun to lose the enthusiasm of youth in the “grind” that, I assume, comes sooner or later to every illustrator.’ In 1915, he forfeited his lucrative career and moved to Taos permanently.
“Despite Dunton’s escape from the ‘grind of illustration,’ his importance as a chronicler of the American West in the literary world remained significant. Consequently, Harper & Brothers asked him to ‘come out of retirement’ to illustrate their special 1921 edition of Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage.
“Considered Grey’s finest Western novel, Riders of the Purple Sage first appeared in 1912. Between January 1912 and July 1913, Field & Stream magazine published the novel as a serial, illustrated by Victor Clyde Forsythe (1885-1962) and Douglas Duer (1887-1964). Many believe the novel launched Zane Grey’s literary success. In 2012, the Library of Congress included Riders of the Purple Sage in its exhibition Books That Shaped America.
“Harper & Brothers first published Riders of the Purple Sage in book form in 1912, with only four grisaille illustrations by Douglas Duer. Seeking to capitalize on sustained interest in the American West and cowboy imagery, the publishers turned to one of its best-known painters, W. Herbert Dunton. They produced a special, enlarged edition of Riders of the Purple Sage, ‘With Illustrations in Color by W. Herbert Dunton.’ This edition featured one of Dunton’s twelve paintings reproduced on the front cover, framed by a gold-highlighted surround. With these works, Dunton reached the zenith of his illustration career and moved beyond the pejorative category of ‘mere illustration’ into easel painting. The Riders commission also marked his transition into the mature style that would define his later work.
“Dunton’s treatment of the figures of Jane Withersteen and Bess Erne in his Riders of the Purple Sage paintings illustrates the evolution of the Western woman in American popular culture. By about 1900, an ‘American Girl/Outdoor Pal/Cow-Boy Girl’ had emerged in American art, particularly in illustration, as the ‘Rancher’s Daughter.’ She is frequently depicted in competition with men, most often in a horse race, and usually she rides astride. To a twenty-first-century mindset this may seem inconsequential; however, the risk of social condemnation for riding in this manner should not be discounted.
“Western fiction writers – and, consequently, illustrators – often combined the innate values attributed to Western women with the practical ranch skills of the mythical cowgirl, creating a hybrid figure. Jane Withersteen and Bess Erne embody these characteristics. In Don’t Look Back!, W. Herbert Dunton honored Jane’s sacrifices as she stood against myriad challenges, threats, tragedies, and losses. Though she appears somewhat defeated and dejected, Jane merely pauses. She remains brimming with the vim, vigor, and perseverance found in women across the American West who helped build this great country. The reassuring hand of Lassiter, the novel’s wandering gunman and self-appointed protector, is kind, but unnecessary. She’s got sand!”
LITERATURE
Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, Harper & Brothers, 1921, p. 295, illustrated
