Frederic Sackrider Remington (American, 1861-1909), "Landscape from The Song of Hiawatha", pen and ink on paper, signed lower left, inscribed "349/Landscape" upper left and "IV Image 83" en verso, 12 1/2 in. x 15 3/4 in., framed . Provenance: Collection of Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston, MA; Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, NY, Dec. 12, 1973. Ill.: Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Song of Hiawatha. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1890, p. 83. Note: Throughout Frederic Remington's career, he had a fascination with Native American life and culture. Having worked in the American West and meticulously sketched and photographed western subjects, Remington soon began creating illustrations and paintings with Native American subject matter. When Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha was published in 1855 with no illustrations, Remington was inspired to create drawings to accompany the text. Around 1890, his first illustrated edition of the book was published by Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, and the present lot is a pen and ink drawing that was reproduced for Chapter IX - "Hiawatha and the Pearl Feather." This lovely landscape with dappled light on the tree trunks accompanies the verse below and reflects upon on the beauty of Longfellow's words.
On the shores of Gitche Gumee,
Of the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood Nokomis, the old woman,
Pointing with her finger westward,
O'er the water pointing westward,
To the purple clouds of sunset.
Fiercely the red sun descending
Burned his way along the heavens,
Set the sky on fire behind him,
As war-parties, when retreating,
Burn the prairies on their war-trail;
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Ref.: Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Song of Hiawatha. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1890.