The Broncho Buster

Details

Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
The Broncho Buster
inscribed 'Frederic Remington' and 'CAST BY THE HENRY-BONNARD BRONZE CO N-Y 1895.' (on the base)--inscribed 'COPYRIGHTED 1895./by Frederic Remington.' (along the base)--stamped 'RR 19' (under the base)
bronze with brownish patina
24 ½ in. high (62.2 cm.)
Modeled in 1895; cast by 1900.

Provenance

Mrs. G. Kimpton.
Newhouse Galleries, New York, acquired from the above, 1969.
J.N. Bartfield Galleries, Inc., New York, acquired from the above.
Shearson Lehman Hutton Collection, acquired from the above, 1988.
Private collection, Fort Lee, New Jersey, acquired from the above, 1991.
Christie's, New York, 24 May 2007, lot 81, sold by the above.
Acquired by the present owners from the above.

Literature

H. McCracken, Frederic Remington: Artist of the Old West, New York, 1947, n.p., pl. 41, another example illustrated.
P. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture in the Amon Carter Museum and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation Collections, New York, 1973, pp. 180-81, another example illustrated.
M.E. Shapiro, Cast and Recast: The Sculpture of Frederic Remington, Washington, D.C., 1981, pp. 63-69, another example illustrated.
M.E. Shapiro, P. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York, 1988, p. 172, pls. 47-48, another example illustrated.
J. Ballinger, Frederic Remington, New York, 1989, p. 74, another example illustrated.
M.D. Greenbaum, Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, pp. 51-64, 171, another example illustrated.

Exhibited

New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans Museum of Art, 1979-80.

Lot Essay

Frederic Remington’s The Broncho Buster is one of the most iconic artworks of the American frontier. The bronze sculpture of a cowboy breaking in a wild horse was an immediate success, symbolizing all that was triumphant and heroic of the West. The artist observed, “my oils will all get old and watery...my watercolors will fade--but I am to endure in bronze...I am doing a cowboy on a bucking bronco and I am going to rattle down through the ages.” (as quoted in P. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York, 1988, p. 182)

The Broncho Buster was originally cast by Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co. in 1895. The foundry produced a total of 64 sand castings of the bronze between 1895 and 1900, making the present work a lifetime cast. Michael Greenbaum writes, "Approximately the first forty sand castings of The Broncho Buster made through 1898 bear production years; the remaining twenty-four castings in the edition generally do not contain the year, but as indicated by Remington’s records the statuettes were created between 1898 and 1900." (Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, p. 30)

More from American Art

View All