The Bronco Buster

Modeled 1895, cast 1899

As a painter and illustrator, Frederic Remington garnered success by crafting mythic, romanticized views of frontier life. "The Bronco Buster" was his first attempt to do so in sculpture. A technical achievement in bronze, the composition of a cowboy attempting to tame a horse portrays an idea of the Western United States in dramatic and violent terms: a white settler-colonialist in the act of subduing nature and flesh.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Frederic Remington (American, 1861–1909) Cast by Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company (American, 1872–1926)

Date

Modeled 1895, cast 1899

Medium

Bronze with brown patina

Dimensions

60 × 54.7 × 34.5 cm (23 5/8 × 21 9/16 × 13 5/8 in.)

Origin

New York City

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

George F. Harding Collection