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Post by azboater on May 19, 2008 22:13:32 GMT -6
Great forum, this is Artist, Author & Historian Ernest L. Reedstrom's version of the battle of the Little Big Horn 52 x 36" painted in 1955, which is also on the cover of his excellent book “Bugles Banners and War Bonnets“. I bought the original painting at an estate sale in Arizona about 6 years ago.   |
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Post by Diane Merkel on May 19, 2008 22:52:51 GMT -6
Lucky you!
We have some of his original pen and ink drawings and some of his prints, but nothing as spectacular as that painting. Congrats (with lots of jealousy)!
I hope I'm not confusing him with someone else, but I think his first wife burned down his studio. He lost not only a lot of his artwork but also his Little Bighorn collection. She was one spiteful woman!
Diane
P.S. -- I should have said, "Welcome!" I'm glad you found us!
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Post by stevewilk on May 20, 2008 0:05:27 GMT -6
Not to be a killjoy but I find it a bit too cartoonish. My personal favorite is Mort Kuntsler's Custer's Last Fight which I received in 1988 for a sizeable donation to the battlefield Preservation Committee. I don't have the means to post the image but while Custer appears at the center top of the print, he is not who stands out the most. I am drawn to the Lt. Cooke figure as he stands in his buckskin jacket and trademark Dundreary whiskers; his Colt pointed downward, his head turned to his right with an anguished expression as he surveys the swarms of hostiles while looking in the distance and likely wondering: "Where the hell is Benteen?"
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Post by Tricia on May 20, 2008 0:40:53 GMT -6
As the resident art historian, I welcome ya to the boards! Lots of fun, entertainment, learning.
As for the painting, I like the diagonals--up the hill, down the hill--adds tension to any work. I am surprised at GAC's depiction. The artist got it right, beard and all, though his face doesn't look like Custer, per se. The style of the work had to have been purposeful--it's certainly the opposite of the abstract expressionism movement that swept the United States in the 1950s (think Jackson Pollock). I tend to think LSH would be best rendered in the manner of 18th Century historical paintings, but that is just my opinion. This work is a bit neat and too clean--I don't see any suffering, really ... but the artist probably thought "hero" first. The landscape isn't too far off, either.
My favourite Last Stand Hill painting is Where Custer Fell by Eric Von Schmidt. You can view it at the Friends of the Little Bighorn website--it's a bit more downbeat than that above, more down and dirty. Graphic and real.
Nice piece of work! I'm not one to collect Dying Custer Art, but I applaud your purchase!
There are a few Zoneys here on the board. Where art thou? I'm a Flagstaff/Paradise Valley girl--my mom was born in Ft. Defiance. And I attended Arizona State far too long ago.
--t.
Chairchick, NACCers
MST, Brokensword's Nuthouse.
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