EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 27 © 2019 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

5 Although some complained that Remington relied on photography, the truth of the matter was that many of his ideas came first from his mind; he used photographs only to capture the movement, although he would [simply] exaggerate it. “The artist must know more than the camera ... (the horse must be) incorrectly drawn from the photographic standpoint (to achieve the desired effect),” he wrote. Unlike most artists, he was a skilled businessman, relying on himself and not on an agent or spouse to negotiate contracts, and demanded that his original paintings be returned with care with no editor’s notes or marks so that he could later sell them. He not only publicized, but promoted his art with such skill, that he was practically the best-known Western artist in America and abroad, much to the detriment of many LEFT: A Dash for the Timber, oil on canvas, 1889. One of Remington’s best known paintings, it showed from a daring point of view, the cowboys riding towards the viewer, as opposed to showing them sideways, as most painters of his time would have done. It’s paintings like this that had certain people say Remington had a sculptor’s vision, as he could paint any animal or person from any angle. He was also one of the first painters to capture the actual motion gait of a horse’s gallop, as opposed to showing them with their legs stretched out like a hobby horse, giving a greater sense of realism to his paintings.