On the Head-Waters--Burgess Finding a Ford
ca. 1893
Medium
Watercolor on paper
Dimensions
20 1/2 x 30 1/2 in. (52.1 x 77.5 cm)
Classification
Watercolor
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Anonymous Gift, 1962
Accession Number
62.241.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Frederic Remington's *On the Head-WatersBurgess Finding a Ford (ca. 1893) captures a pivotal moment in the American: a frontiersman named Burgess scouting a shallow crossing on a remote river's headwaters, accompanied by horses. This watercolor on paper, measuring 20½ × 30½ inches, vividly evokes the rugged challenges of exploration and travel in the late 19th century, when settlers and adventurers navigated untamed landscapes. Remington, a master of American realism and the Western genre, excelled at portraying the dynamism of cowboy life, horses, and the frontier's harsh beauty. His use of ...
About the Artist
Frederic Remington
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...