My Dear Bartelli [Riccardo Bertelli]

Artist Frederic Remington (American, 1861 - 1909)

Recipient Riccardo Bertelli (1875 - 1955)

Date1902

Mediumpen and ink on paper

Dimensions7 7/8 × 4 7/8 inches (20 × 12.4 cm)

Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965

Object number11.107.2

ClassificationsDocumentary Artifacts

Label TextRemington wrote this letter to Riccardo Bertelli, the owner of Roman Bronze Works. Bertelli and the workers at his foundry cast most of Remington’s bronzes, using the lost wax method. This letter refers to Remington’s sculpture "Coming Through the Rye." The artist began by making a model in clay. Next, a foundry worker made plaster casts of the model. The foundry assembled the plasters and made molds. These molds were used to cast a wax model. The artist would then refine the wax model. In this letter, Remington reveals his impatience to begin the process of touching up the wax model. After that, the foundry would make molds from the wax model to cast the bronze.

ProvenanceH.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art

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