The Fall of the Cowboy by Frederic Remington

The Fall of the Cowboy - Frederic Remington - Canvas Wall Art

About This Piece

Looking for wildlife oil painting with real brushwork? The Fall of the Cowboy is reproduced by hand in oils on artist-grade canvas after Frederic Remington. The result is a piece of elegant oil painting wall decor that anchors a dining room and rewards a closer look.

The Story Behind the Painting

1895
Oil on canvas
63.5 cm (25 in.) x 89.22 cm (35.13 in.)
Amon Carter Museum, United States.

As early as the mid-1890s, the cowboy way of life was beginning to come to an end. The expansion of the railroads into cattle country had eliminated the need for the long trail drives to the railheads of Kansas and Missouri. The great expanses of public grazing lands had been opened to homesteaders who had enclosed pastures with barbed-wire fences. After more than a decade of painting the cowboy lifestyle as a symbol of spirited freedom, Frederic Remington began to realize that the West he had idealized in his art was vanishing. Out of this awareness, he produced one of his most memorable paintings, The Fall of the Cowboy.

At his friend Remington's insistence, writer Owen Wister published an article in Harper's New Monthly Magazine titled "The Evolution of the Cow-Puncher." It was part of a series on "the whole adventure of the West," with Remington as principal illustrator. The Fall of the Cowboy was among several illustrations that eventually accompanied the author's work. Remington had advised Wister to write his piece about the story of the passing of the open-range cowboy. "Don't mistake nice young men who amble around wire fences for 'the wild rider of the Plains,' " Remington warned.

The bitter winters of 1885 and 1886 had exacted a devastating toll on the northern herds. The advent of barbed wire in 1875 foretold the day when the cowboy would devote his hours not to riding the line and the roundup, but rather to opening and closing gates, digging postholes, and growing and harvesting hay.

The melancholy associated with the demise of a celebrated American figure is captured here with empathy and reverence. Beneath a sky of gunmetal gray, two cowboys have stopped in a remote, wintry landscape. One of them has dismounted to open the gate so they can pass through.

Remington—like President Theodore Roosevelt, another great promoter of the West in this period—viewed the cowboy as the last figure of American frontier history: hardy, self-reliant, and tragically doomed to extinction in the wake of American progress. This mythic image was to be immortalized with the publication of Owen Wister's influential novel, The Virginian, in 1902.

Every hand painted oil painting in this wildlife series is finished on artist-grade canvas and checked against the original before it leaves the studio.

How It Is Made

Each canvas is painted entirely by hand with professional oil paints on artist-grade cotton canvas. No printing, giclée, or digital imaging is used at any stage, so the surface keeps the slight relief and color variation of real brushwork.

Specifications & What You Receive

• 100% hand-painted oil painting on artist-grade canvas — never a print or digital reproduction.
• Comes with a 2-inch unpainted margin on every side, ready for stretcher bars or a frame.
• Direct-from-studio worldwide delivery with no third-party resellers.
• Available canvas sizes for this hand painted oil painting: 20 X 24 in, 24 X 36 in, 30 X 40 in, 36 X 48 in, 48 X 72 in.
• Choose from standard sizes or request a custom dimension to fit your wall.
• Multiple low-cost carriers available, including DHL, UPS, FedEx and USPS.
• Complimentary stretching over wooden stretcher bars; ask us about a custom frame.
• Before dispatch we email a digital proof so you can approve the finished canvas.

Styling & Placement

This wildlife oil painting wall decor is equally at home in a residence, a boutique hotel, or a professional office. Its elegant character makes it a safe, distinctive gift for anyone furnishing a dining room.

Delivery, Sizes & Guarantee

In short: The Fall of the Cowboy - Frederic Remington - Canvas Wall Art combines an elegant composition, a 100% hand painted oil painting process, and the flexibility of made-to-order canvas sizes — a dependable choice for wildlife oil painting and dining room wall art.