The Mexican Major

Arts of the Americas

1889

Frederic Remington
American, 1861–1909

Frederic Remington was greatly impressed by the Mexican army, which he observed during a six-week visit to Mexico in 1889 in preparation for an article in Harper’s Weekly magazine. The Mexican Major is an elaborate, multifigural composition, designed to convey the professionalism, discipline, and “immensely picturesque” appearance of the officer and his regiment. Remington enjoyed the soldiers’ ornate costumes, and he emphasized these through the use of rhythmic, flashing colors and the depiction of brilliant light. The line of horsemen stretches off into the far distance—a sign of honor, strength, and dignity.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Frederic Remington
Title: The Mexican Major
Origin: New York
Date: 1889
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed, lower left: "Copyrighted/ Frederic Remington/ '89"
Dimensions: 87 × 124.8 cm (34 1/4 × 49 1/8 in.)
Credit Line: George F. Harding Collection
Reference Number: 1982.804
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Harper’s Weekly, September 27, 1890, ill. p. 752.
Henry C. Pitz, Frederic Remington: 173 Drawings and Illustrations (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1972), ill. no. 113.
Peter H. Hassrick and Melissa J. Webster, Frederic Remington: A Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, Volume I (Buffalo Bill Historical Center / University of Washington Press, 1996), no. 964.
Peter H. Hassrick, et al., Frederick Remington Catalogue Raisonné, accessed May 5, 2020, http://remington.centerofthewest.org, cat. 00964.

New York, American Art Galleries, 1890
Boston Art Club, 1891.
Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings and Bronzes by Frederic Remington Lent by the George F. Harding Museum, Jun 21–Oct 10, 1969.
Mt. Vernon, Ill., Mitchell Museum, Harding Foundation, Medieval and Renaissance Armor and Weapons, Remington Paintings, Bronzes and Drawings, Dec 5, 1981–Jan 31, 1982, cat. no. 405.
Art Institute of Chicago, Frederic Remington, Sep 1–Oct 11, 1982, no cat.
Phoenix Art Museum, Frederic Remington’s Southwest, Jan 4–Mar 15, 1992, James K. Ballinger, p. 44, ill.; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Apr 19–Jun 12, 1992; Omaha, Neb., Joslyn Art Museum, Jul 11–Sep 6, 1992.
Art Institute of Chicago, Window on the West: Chicago and the Art of the New Frontier 1890–1940, Jun 28–Oct 13, 2003, cat. 81, fig. 5, p. 85, 169.

W.R. Hearst Collection. George F. Harding Museum, Chicago, by 1982; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1982.

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