Brad Drug a Few More Heavy Limbs Across the Fire

Additional Information

Provenance:
The Abe Hays Collection, Scottsdale, AZ

Exhibited:
Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Western Miniature Art Exhibit August 15, 1998-September 27, 1998
Cow-Boy dans L'ame, Musee De La Civilisation, Quebec, April 10, 2002- March 15, 2003

"Brad drug a few more heavy limbs across the fire, they'd do for a long time, curled up to within arms' reach for the colt and also was soon asleep."

Literature:
The Dark Horse, by Will James, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1939, p. 35

Will James (1892–1942) occupies a singular place in the history of Western American art and literature. A working cowboy before he achieved recognition as an artist and author, James drew upon firsthand experience of ranch life to create images of exceptional authenticity and vitality. His illustrations and stories eschewed romanticized depictions of the frontier in favor of scenes grounded in lived experience, capturing the movement, temperament, and spirit of horses, cattle, and cowboys with an economy of line that became his hallmark. His celebrated book Smoky the Cowhorse received the 1927 Newbery Medal and established James as one of the foremost interpreters of the American West, while his illustrations for books, magazines, and personal manuscripts remain among the most sought-after works by collectors of Western art.

The present group offered in Scottsdale Art Auction’s summer sale represents an outstanding assemblage of original works from the renowned Abe Hays Collection, one of the most important private collections of Will James material ever assembled. Hays devoted decades to preserving the artist's legacy, acquiring original drawings, manuscripts, published illustrations, and archival material that documented James's artistic and literary career. Several works offered here were included in the landmark exhibition of the Abe Hays Collection at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage (October 3, 1997–January 4, 1998), further underscoring their historical and scholarly importance.

These works present an exceptional opportunity to acquire original examples by one of the defining artistic voices of the American West.

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