The Broncho Buster 1909

Here is Frederic Remington’s ‘The Broncho Buster’, made of bronze, no exact date specified. What is so great about Remington’s work is that you can see him thinking about the form in the round, how it will look from all angles. The sculpture is really about the texture. I’m interested in the way Remington uses a kind of mottled surface to describe the dynamism of the figures. The whole thing is caught in a really dramatic moment, with the horse rearing and the cowboy flailing. If you look closely, you can see the marks that were made to create that rough texture. It’s really physical. The way the forms catch the light reminds me of Rodin, but with an American sensibility. It reminds me of something that is both in motion and somehow suspended in time. Thinking of the Old West, I’m sure Remington wanted to capture something about the fleeting nature of a changing way of life. What is the difference between this and a bronze by Degas, maybe? Both made at the turn of the century. A conversation!