Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-01-11
THE ARTIST OF THE PLAINS.
Frederick Rominoton's Life Work Of the Middle West
,rnnnnr lnnnnrnnI unrnnnu,r

tastes ami yearnlngs came too late.
They reached the scene after the cur
tain ut the past had iallcn To- rise up
on "a new drama ana new characters
such as Onl finds upon the western
stage today There was therefore, no
forer1nrer, there can never come up u
rival there is nothing lcft Tor any
artists alive on yet 20 live except the
m0ckery Of Imitation
When an enlightened government or
auO.fe~ Andrew Carnegie with differ
ere tastes, comes to collect I'm some
gallery or museum the painted renpC-
tons Of the empire founding beyond
the pralrlcs of the middle West. REM
lngton's work, and his alone must con-
stltute the collection. II is most
strange that there should have been
but one artist In all that imperial tract
throughout so long space OF timo
and that there should have been no
writer or recording clerk Of events,
For we cannot award that palm to
Bret Hartc, whose fancy outWeighs the
facts in his earliest and most fascinat-
Ing tales OF the limited era and dis
trict Of tho prospector and miner,
When one views the present eXhibi-
ton Of LCmington's work he fees-if
he Is l6yman--an indescrlbable un.
namabIe difference between the pie
lures of which he has any knowledge
except, Of course, those canyases which
carry bad limitations Of this pioneers
work The difference is both peculiar
ana fitting 1t Is the difference between
WORK along the lines OF the old schools
Of Europe and original, Independent,
purely personal or individual effort,
For bennington is, as | pid once be-
fore In this column, the only American
artist in ell that term implics-now
living le flung himself into this llfv
work @! his, In series OF drawings
called forth by Richard Watson Glider,
before h. ever saw an art school or
could distinguish between the classic
or academic products and the indivI-
duallstIc achievements Of the European
painters He had ALWAYS drawn
lie began to draw caricatures Of his
teachers when he was boy at school
in 81, Lawrence county. But he drew
In his own WaV thar a~d 'o '"" nr-o"
drawn or painted In any other way
since then. Being Odd TO o.Ite tuud
Illustrate an article about the In
dlans for the Century Magazine he
did II. He was like the cowboy In one
Of his anecdotes who was met some
hundreds Of miles from anywhere pull
ing lame horse along by It's halter.
He accounted for his pastlme by say
ing, 1--WE got It TO do
In the same way Remington had his
firest task to do and he aid IT, II you
al
see how far he has pulled that lame
horse since that day II is true that
he took little school training. but Eu-
ropean methods and standards Of taste
ran off him without adherlng to him
anywhere. His main concern was, and
always has been, to be accurate
There are Cation Woodyiles all over
the world who may al times produce a
more elaborate and finished picture
without troubling themselves 10 study
the details Of dress ornament and APP
paratus, but Remington Is as careful
with his costumes as Edwin A. Abbey
himself, or correct In his horse para
phernalia as any saddler who ever liy-
ed, as true to fact in the makeup Of a
weapon and the way a man could ham
die II as mortal man can be.
His exhibition Is a revelation OF the
progress he has made, not in drawing,
for he could not easily distance his for
mer best in that respect but in feeling,
in humanity, and emotion and IN dra-
matte attainment His ambition Is
boundess and his energy seems 70 have
no bottom. il Is said among his
friends that he has begun TO uncover
new and very important branch Of
the enterprise which took so very many
forms among those who broke ground
for our railroads, farms and cities be-
You'd the Mississippi and above and be-
yond the great lakes, This new study
Of his-thls resolution to picture a part
Of the scene that he has scarcely touch
ed upon except In illustrating one or
two trips he took with me for "Har-
per's Magazine" is a colossal undertake
Ing
Partner" he said the last time ]
saw him. IT used to think that II ]
buckled down to II and worked cease
lessly for twenty or twenty-five years,
/ might, maybe, get a half a day of
for rest. but | see II Is not possible.
I've got To keep q move on for another
few decades Julian Ralph in Mall
and Express.