The Mexican Major
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
87 × 124.8 cm (34 1/4 × 49 1/8 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
97912
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Frederic Remington was greatly impressed by the Mexican army, which he observed during a six-week visit to Mexico in 1889 in preparation for an article in Harper’s Weekly magazine. The Mexican Major is an elaborate, multifigural composition, designed to convey the professionalism, discipline, and “immensely picturesque” appearance of the officer and his regiment. Remington enjoyed the soldiers' ornate costumes, and he emphasized these through the use of rhythmic, flashing colors and the depictio...
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...