Indians Simulating Buffalo
Frederic Remington1908
The Toledo Museum of Art
Toledo, United States
An exchange of glances is the focal point of Frederic Remington’s intriguing scene. Bent over their grazing ponies with bison skins thrown over them, two Native Americans of the Great Plains employ a time-honored hunting method. In this context, however, they have disguised themselves as bison (Remington uses the incorrect term “buffalo” in his title, as well as a colonialist term for Native peoples) in order to scout the presence of white settlers; a barely visible wagon train seems to have prompted their significant look.
More than any other artist, Remington shaped our view (and misconceptions) of the so-called Old West. Fascinated with its vast panoramas and raw drama, he vividly recorded the lives of Native Americans, US cavalrymen, cowboys, and settlers in paintings, magazine illustrations, and sculptures. This painting, completed a year before his death, was commissioned for the magazine Collier’s Weekly.
- Title: Indians Simulating Buffalo
- Creator: Frederic Remington
- Creator Lifespan: 1861 - 1909
- Creator Nationality: American
- Creator Gender: male
- Creator Death Place: Ridgefield, Connecticut
- Creator Birth Place: Canton, New York
- Date Created: 1908
- Physical Location: Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio
- Location Created: North America, United States
- Physical Dimensions: Painting: 27 × 40 in. (68.6 × 101.6 cm) Frame: 35 3/4 × 48 3/4 × 3 1/2 in. (90.8 × 123.8 × 8.9 cm)
- Subject Keywords: landscape; outdoor scene; animals; horses; man; hunting; hiding; mountsins; hills; field; fur; grazing
- Type: Painting
- Rights: https://toledomuseum.org/collection/image-resources/
- External Link: Toledo Museum of Art
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Fun Fact: An exchange of glances is the focal point of Frederic Remington's intriguing homage to the American West. Bent over their grazing ponies with buffalo skins thrown over them, two Native Americans of the western plains employ a time-honored hunting trick of disguising themselves as bison. A wagon train barely visible in the distance, however, suggests the camouflaged men are scouts rather than hunters. Although Remington's images most often show Native Americans as the antagonists, the meaning here is more ambiguous. The painting may illustrate a nostalgic view of an already-vanished way of life or it may suggest the stereotypical narrative of Native Americans posing a menace to the white settlers who once made their way to western lands. More than any other artist, Remington shaped our view of the Old West. Fascinated with the West's panorama and drama, he nostalgically recorded the lives and adventures of Native Americans, cavalrymen, cowboys, and settlers in paintings, magazine illustrations, and bronze sculptures. Completed a year before his death, Indians Simulating Buffalo was commissioned by publishers P. F. Collier and Son, with whom Remington had a contract. The painting was used as the cover image of the September 18, 1909, issue of Collier's Magazine. Remington's paintings of 1907-1908 reflect increasing Impressionist influence. In this canvas, he adapted the style's intense palette to record the strong sunlight and parched landscape, while the brushstrokes delineating the buffalo robes and the strong vertical blue and reddish lines that build up the shadows beneath them are similar to the Impressionists' brushwork (see 1951.371 and 1929.51).
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