A Mexican Vaquero
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
82.6 × 58.4 cm (32 1/2 × 23 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
97907
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
A trip to Mexico in 1889 provided Frederic Remington with a wealth of firsthand material for paintings and illustrations created later in his New York studio. Here Remington depicted a vaquero, a Mexican horseman similar to the cowboys of the American frontier. The figure sits astride his horse at an elevated position, his head and torso above the horizon, outlined by the pale blue sky behind him. Portraying the man with a direct gaze and his hand on the reins, Remington suggested that the vaque...
About the Artist
Frederic Remington · 1861–1909
Frederic Remington (1861–1909) was an American painter, sculptor, and illustrator who became the preeminent visual chronicler of the American West. Born in Canton, New York, he studied briefly at the Yale School of the Fine Arts and the Art Students League of New York before making his first trip west in 1881, where he found the subject matter that would define his career. Remington's paintings a...