Infantryman in Field Costume
Artist
Frederic Sackrider Remington
(American, 1861 - 1909)
Date1890
MediumWatercolor and gouache on board
DimensionsSheet Dimension: 21 × 13 1/16 in. (53.3 × 33.2 cm)
ClassificationsWatercolor
Credit LineHarriet Russell Stanley Fund
Terms
Object number1952.16LIC
DescriptionRemington made his reputation with such watercolors as "Infantryman in Field Costume", produced to illustrate popular periodical articles documenting the rapidly disappearing western frontier. During his tremendously successful career, Remington frequently traveled with members of the United States Army, from whom he was able to gather anecdotal information and visual impressions for use in his drawings, watercolors, paintings, and sculptures. By accompanying the soldiers on their campaigns against the Indians, Remington developed a thorough knowledge of military protocol and created for his eastern audience some of the most compelling descriptions of the Indian wars then available. By 1890, when "Infantryman" was created, Remington had consolidated his reputation as a recorder of military life with his illustrations of the Sioux uprising at the Battle of Wounded Knee, in South Dakota. "Infantryman" is one of the illustrations that Remington created for an article by John Gregory Bourke, captain of the Third Cavalry, which celebrated the exploits of General George Crook (1829-1890). (1) Crook had graduated from West Point in 1852 and risen through the ranks to major-general in command of the department of the Missouri in 1888. During the twelve years that Bourke served as his aide-de-camp, from 1871 to 1883, Crook was almost constantly engaged in military actions that took him to New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, and the Dakotas. (2)
In "Infantryman", Remington carefully described the uniform and accessories of a field soldier. The artist usually traveled with a pencil and a camera and collected military gear in his studio in order to ensure the accuracy of his portrayals. A "military type" rather than a portrait of a specific individual, the infantryman in Remington's image is well equipped: he carries a rifle slung over his shoulder, a canteen at his hip, a knife at his right, and a leather pouch with a sturdy tin drinking cup. Remington's appreciation and sympathy for the United States Army is evident in this image-"Infantryman in Field Costume" depicts a healthy good-looking individual, sure of his equipment and confident in his abilities.
Remington inscribed "Infantryman" as a gift to Jonathan Scott Hartley, a friend and professor of anatomy at the Art Students League, in New York during the 1870s. Both men were nominated to the National Academy of Design the year this image was published--Remington as an associate member and Hartley as a full academician. Remington also owned a small plaster sculpture by Hartley, and he may have offered the older artist this watercolor as a token of his esteem. (3)
MEB
Bibliography:
Peggy and Harold Samuels, "Frederic Remington: A Biography" (Austin: University of Texas, 1982); Michael Edward Shapiro et al., "Frederic Remington: The Masterworks", exhib. cat., (Saint Louis: Saint Louis Art Museum, 1988); James K. Ballinger, "Frederic Remington" (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989).
Notes:
1 . John G. Bourke, "General Crook in the Indian Country," "Century Magazine" 41 (March 1891): 643-60.
2. John Gregory Bourke, "On the Border with Crook" (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1891); and Martin F. Schmitt, "General George Crook, His Autobiography" (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1946).
3. Shapiro et al., "Frederic Remington", pp. 190, 210-11.
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