Frederic Remington
1861-1909
I Was Geet Up Un Was Looking at de Leetle Man
MEDIUM: Gouache and ink wash on paper
DIMENSIONS: 21 1/2 x 29 inches
Signed and dated 1891 lower left
SOLD FOR: $67,200.00
Including Buyers Premium
2023 - APRIL,
LOT 300
Additional Information
Provenance:
The Artist, gifted to Marion and Lewis Evans, Bronxville, NY, as a wedding gift, circa 1900 Private Collection, IL, by descent
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, Reno, NV, 2015
Literature:
Harper’s Monthly, “Sun-Down Leflare’s Money,” Harper & Brothers, New York, NY, July 1898: p. 197.
Frederic Remington A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, Volume II, Peter H. Hassrick and Melissa J. Webster, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY, 1996: p. 669.
Frederic Remington A Catalogue Raisonné Volume II, Peter H. Hassrick and Melissa J. Webster, University of Washington Press: p. 669
In 1899, Frederic Remington published Sun-Down Leflare, a book-length story featuring a colorful Western character with a unique way of speaking in broken, half-grunted English. Sun-Down Leflare had actually existed prior to the book as a character in several Western articles written and illustrated by Remington and all published by Harper’s Monthly in 1897 and 1898. One of those articles, “Sun-Down Leflare’s Money,” appeared in the July 1898 Harper’s and it includes the illustration I Was Geet Up Un Was Looking at de Leetle Man. The entire article is essentially a monologue by Sun-Down as he relates a story around a campfire, which is depicted in the illustration.
Though he was known as a painter and sculptor, Remington was praised throughout his career for his writing, which he partook in from his earliest days as an artist all the way to his final years.