The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-27

Everyone knows Frederic Remington's
pictures of horses and plainsmen, soldiers
and Indians, as found in the magazines.
and everyone knows hat they speak the
truth in every line, so clearly 10 they show
action and life and energy. But it is one
thing to see these representations in the
small pages of periodicals and to see them
the full size of the original drawings
printed on heavy cardboard, sixteen by
twelve inches in size. or sometimes cover
ing two such pages. A book of these draw
ings sent out by r. III. Russell (New York;
makes an art treasure greatly TO be de-
sired and a joy to see. 1t bears the title
Done in the Open''-a name that might
well suit a complete collection of this au-
thor's work-and the drawings portray In
dams, Uncle Sans soldiers on duty and
off, "cow punchers," mountain stages,
horses in every condition of life-and death;
horses in violent action, horses frightened,
horses tired and dropping after long jour
neys, horses half starved and broken down,
horses we'll kept and cared for and the de-
light of their owners, horses, or rather
their skeletons, reposing on the sod. their
toll at last ended. And Indians! One be-
comes well acquainted with the Indian here.
In a preface to the book written by Owen
Wister, the point is made that Americans
should be as familiar with the facial char
acteristics of the typical aborigine as with
the face of George Washington. He also
points out that the public which studies
Remington's pictures need lack no informa-
ton as to the uniforms of our soldiery-ofi-
GERS, cavalry, infantry. Besides the intro
duction, Wister accompanies each drawing
with a sympathetic ~stanza; they are not
explanatory, as the pictures tell their
own story, but since Wister knows Rem
ington's West he can enter thoroughly into
the spirit of his work, and his clever verses
are a distinct addition to the pages. On
the page with the cow punchers, for in
stance, he says:
He rides the earth with hoofs of might,
His Is the song the eagle sings;
Strong as the eagles his delight,
For like his rope, his heart hath wings"
The book altogether is a magnificent con-
tribution to the art of the day.
From the same house. so noted for its
artistic publications. comes a volume show
ing the productions of another talented ar
fist who works in a very different field
Charles Dana Gibson. 1t is the seventh
book in the regular series of his published
drawings, and its contents show, perhaps,
a greater variety of subjects than some
of the others. The celebrated girl is
there numerously, but the artist by no
means confines himself to her. The book
is called 1.-The Social Ladder" and a num-
Der Of the drawings deal with the struggles
of ambitious climbers to reach the social
goal. These and cartoons on other themes
each tell a story; they are often amusing
and always worth a study, not only for
their execution, but their thought. The
volume is a beautiful one and will add to
the artists already high reputation.
Still another artistic book from this
house is an illustrated poem by Richard
lie Gallienne-"Mr. Sun and Mrs. Moon.
1t is often rather difficult to understand
Mr.. lie Caffeine, but these verses seem
to be mainly intended for the entertain
ment Of children, and the rather weird
pictures are in keeping. A Nursery AL
phabet' at the last is so clever that ii
should be universally adopted as an enter.
tanning method of teaching children their
letters.