Lassoing Wild Horses
Artist
Alfred Jacob Miller
(American, 1810 - 1874)
Dateafter 1837
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions28 1/2 × 35 5/8 inches (72.4 × 90.5 cm)
Frame: 33 3/8 × 41 1/2 × 3 inches (84.8 × 105.4 × 7.6 cm)
Frame: 33 3/8 × 41 1/2 × 3 inches (84.8 × 105.4 × 7.6 cm)
Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965
Object number31.34.30
ClassificationsPaintings
Label TextMiller’s romanticism found expression in a scene of Indian people capturing wild horses. He wrote about the subject. “As they approach the drove, the scene becomes intensely exciting; the Indians now riding in a perfectly reckless manner, their figures swaying to and fro with the motion of their steeds, display a rude natural grace.” Miller’s painting shows the drama of the chase. In his text, he admired the unerring skill of the ropers. Yet, his writing also revealed cultural bias. His description of “rude natural grace” shows his view of native people as “noble savages,” a stereotype of the time.
Provenance(Edward Eberstadt & Sons, New York, New York)[1]; purchased February 10, 1958 by H.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
| 1. “We have been some ten or a dozen years amassing the rest of this collection from various individuals who were direct descendents[sic] of the pioneer artist himself.” (excerpt from a letter to HJLS from Charles Eberstadt dated November 26, 1957)
On View
On view
