The Advance Guard c. 1888

Frederic Remington made "The Advance Guard" with watercolor on paper. Remington masterfully utilizes the fluidity of watercolor to convey a sense of dynamism. You can almost feel the movement of the horse and rider. The washes of color create subtle gradations of light and shadow, defining the muscular form of the horse and the determined posture of the rider. Watercolor allowed Remington to capture fleeting moments with great immediacy. He was known for documenting the American West. Yet we need to remember that such images were also instrumental in the colonial project, even celebrating the dispossession of indigenous peoples. This picture would not have been possible without the labor and resources extracted from the land, and the artist's brush was complicit in that history. Thinking about these issues helps us understand the broader cultural context in which art is made, expanding beyond any distinction between fine art and illustration.