by Len Hill

This article is a continuation of the Dash for the Timber preview in the September issue of ITR. For a complete preview of the Dash for the Timber, pick up a copy of the September issue of ITR.

The following was a written interview with Carol Noel, the Public Relations Coordinator for the Amon Carter Museum, located in the cultural district of Fort Worth, Texas. On Saturday, September 28, the annual "Dash for Timber" 5k will be held at the site of the museum. The race, named after the famous painting by Frederic Remington, will be a virtual tour of the cultural district. In the interview, Noel talks about the artist, the painting, and the history behind the painting and its acquisition by the museums' namesake, Amon Carter. She credits most of the information offered from the following source: Frederic Remington: Masterpieces from the Amon Carter Museum. It was written in 1992 by Dr. Rick Stewart, who was then curator of western painting and sculpture. He became director of the museum in 1995.

ITR: Briefly, about Fredric Remington, when did he live, and when was most of his major works done - the productive years? What was his reason to do western art?

Noel: Remington was born in 1861 in upstate New York and was raised there near the Saint Lawrence River. He died in 1909. His formal artistic training was limited to three semesters at the Yale College of Art when he was 17 and a three- month stint at the Art Students League in New York eight years later, when his career was just getting under way. He made his first trip to the American West in 1881, vacationing in the Montana Territory. Two years later he moved to Kansas. He was involved in a series of short-lived ventures that included a sheep ranch, a hardware store, and a saloon, all the while working at being an artist. He returned to NYC in 1885 and established a working relationship with Harper's Weekly, then the largest pictorial newspaper in the world. His rise to prominence was huge and within a few years he was the best and most prolific artist-correspondent of the era. Between 1885 and 1888, he made many trips to the American Southwest, mainly to cover the U.S. Cavalry and its pursuit of the Apaches. So, his artistic work was done mainly from 1885, until he died in 1909.

ITR: How did Amon Carter come to begin collecting Remington and other western art?

Noel: Amon Carter first heard about Remington through his friend Will Rogers, the writer and humorist. Carter began acquiring works by the other great artist of the American West, Charles M. Russell in 1935, and that year he also purchased his first Remington painting, His First Lesson, from a New York dealer.

ITR: Where does "A Dash for the Timber" fall in, chronologically, in Remington's' work?

Noel: Dash for the Timber was painted in 1889, so not long after he returned to New York from his trips west. During his these trips, Remington filled his diaries with observations, did many field sketches, took many photographs with the latest equipment, and collected numerous artifacts to use in his paintings.

ITR: Where does "Dash" rate amongst Remington's' works?

Noel: A Dash for the Timber launched Remington's career as a major painter when it was exhibited at the National Academy. It is considered by many to be his finest painting, and his probably his most "recognizable" painting.

ITR: Could you briefly describe the painting?

Noel: The painting is 48 1/4 inches high and 84 1/8 inches wide, oil on canvas. It is an image of several men on horses charging toward the viewer. Some of them are turned around with guns shooting at a band of Native Americans who are chasing them. The overall effect of the painting is cinematic. It is a very action-filled portrayal of struggle for life on the frontier, and anticipates the many Western films that would follow a generation later.

ITR: Is there a story behind the painting? Why did Remington do the work?

Noel: Remington wrote in a letter in April of 1889 to a friend in Arizona; "I have a big order for a cowboy picture and I want a lot of 'chapperas' - say two or three pieces - and if you will buy them off some of the cowboys and ship them to me by express c.o.d. I will be your slave...I want old ones---and they should all be different in shape--I have four pairs now and want some more and as soon as I can get them will begin the picture." Stewart says in his book that the "cowboy picture" Remington was probably referring to here was probably A Dash for the Timber.

ITR: Did Remington ever comment on his work in general - and specifically "A Dash for the Timber"?

Noel: I don't know if Remington ever commented on his own work. A review of A Dash for the Timber in the New York Herald said, "This work marks an advance on the part of one of the strongest of our younger artists, who is one of the best illustrators we have. ..The drawing is true and strong, the figures of the men and horses are in fine action, tearing along at a full gallop, the sunshine effect is realistic and the color is good." Remington is also famous for his many bronze sculptures. He became interested in sculpture in 1895.