Henry Farny

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Henry Farny (right) with Frank Duveneck in 1874
Obsidian mountain in the Yellowstone, 1897

Henry François Farny (15 July 1847, Ribeauvillé – 23 December 1916) was an American painter and illustrator. His work was centered on the life of Native Americans in the 19th-century United States.[1]

Biography[]

Farny's family left France in 1853 to emigrate to the United States. The family moved to Warren in Pennsylvania, near a Seneca reservation. As a child he learned the lore of the woods from Seneca Indians, who came from their reservation to hunt in the neighborhood where his father lived. In his boyhood he was fond of covering the walls of his father's board-house with pictures of animals, birds and Indians, which he scratched with nails or framed by aid of burnt sticks.[1]

Around 1859, the Farny family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Attracted by painting and drawing, the young man became an illustrator for magazines and books for children. When he was 18 years old, Harper's Weekly published a double page view of Cincinnati he made.

Between 1867 and 1870 he took private lessons from Albert Bierstadt in Düsseldorf. By the time Farny had arrived at Düsseldorf, and began attending Düsseldorf academy in the late 1860s the Düsseldorf school of painting had already begun to lose its once high acclaim amongst most of the American populace.

One part of America where this was not the case was in Cincinnati, Ohio where the realist objectives taught there were still being held in high esteem. Despite this, upon his return to Cincinnati in 1870 Farny, who had been studying abroad, came home to a minimally responsive demand by Cincinnatians for his paintings. He used his new found skills in the service of poster painting and other odd jobs. In 1873 this all changed when he was commissioned by the chamber of commerce to depict in drawing the different stages of pork packing in Cincinnati.

In 1881, inspired by the developing market for Indian paintings, Farny traveled up the Missouri River, making sketches, taking notes and photography, and collecting artifacts. On several more trips West he did the same, until his Cincinnati studio contained enough material for almost any Indian subject he wished to illustrate.[2] Upon his return to Cincinnati, he remarked: "The plains, the buttes, the whole country and its people are fuller of material for the artist than any country in Europe."[3]

About a hundred paintings were inspired by Farny's western trips in the 1880s. Ration Day at Standing Rock Agency, The Song of the Talking Wire, and The Last Vigil are among his most famous. His understanding of the Indian's plight is often apparent in his work.[3]

Farny was one of the founding members of the Cincinnati Art Club and served as its second president from 1892–94.[4]

Theodore Roosevelt once said to Farny: "Farny, the nation owes you a great debt. It does not realize it now but it will some day. You are preserving for future generations phases of American history that are rapidly passing away."[1]

He died in Cincinnati in 1916.[5]

Legacy[]

Farny's art continues to gain in popularity and most serious public as well as private Western art collections include at least one painting. Recently his Southern Plains Indian Warrior sold at Bonhams for £224,097 (US$362,500) - more than three times its original estimated value.[6][7]

Artworks[]

Selected artworks

Year Title Image Dimensions Collection Comments
1878 The Silent Guest,
oil on canvas
'The Silent Guest' by Henry Farny, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG 40.2 in × 30.1 in (102.2 cm × 76.5 cm) Cincinnati Art Museum,
Cincinnati, OH
IAP 40800019
1885 The Captive,
gouache/watercolor
Henry F. Farny - The Captive.jpg
color image
22.3 in × 40.0 in (56.7 cm × 101.6 cm) Cincinnati Art Museum,
Cincinnati, OH
IAP 40800021
1887 The Unwelcome Guests,
oil on canvas
'The Unwelcome Guests' by Henry F. Farny, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG 38.0 in × 48.3 in (96.5 cm × 122.7 cm) Cincinnati Art Museum,
Cincinnati, OH
IAP 40800949
1888 The Water Carriers
(or Drawing Water),
watercolor
Farny 12.jpg 8.4 in × 16.1 in (21.3 cm × 40.9 cm) IAP 62641434
1890 Hunting Camp on the Plains,
oil on canvas
'Hunting Camp on the Plains' by Henry Farny, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG 22.1 in × 38.6 in (56.1 cm × 98.0 cm) Cincinnati Art Museum,
Cincinnati, OH
IAP 40800950
1891 Indian Brave,
watercolor
Henry Farney Indian Brave.jpg 10 in × 6 in (25.4 cm × 15.2 cm) IAP 63003525
1892 Renegade Apaches,
oil on canvas
'Renegade Apaches' by Henry Farny, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG 32.6 in × 22.6 in (82.9 cm × 57.5 cm) Cincinnati Art Museum,
Cincinnati, OH
IAP 40800011
1895 Conspiracy,
watercolor
Farny 39.jpg
color image
15.4 in × 9.6 in (39.1 cm × 24.4 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040012
1896 Chief Spotted Tail
(1896?), watercolor
Farny 5.jpg 10 in × 7 in (25.4 cm × 17.8 cm)
or
10.3 in × 15.1 in (26.2 cm × 38.4 cm)
Subject: Chief Spotted Tail (1823-1881), Brulé, branch of Sioux tribe. IAP 82190580 IAP 86040016
1896 Pastures New,
watercolor
color image 12.3 in × 18.3 in (31.2 cm × 46.5 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040013
1899 Something Stirring,
gouache/watercolor
Farny 36.jpg
color image
12.5 in × 9.5 in (31.8 cm × 24.1 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040011
1902 Big Game in Sight,
gouache/watercolor
Farny 37.jpg
color image
10.6 in × 5.6 in (26.9 cm × 14.2 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040005
1900 The Old Buffalo Trail,
watercolor
Farny 41.jpg
color image
28.5 in × 20.5 in (72.4 cm × 52.1 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040015
1902 Indian Elk Hunting,
oil on canvas
'Indian Elk Hunting' by Henry Farny, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG Cincinnati Art Museum,
Cincinnati, OH
1904 The Song of the Talking Wire,
oil on canvas
Henry F. Farny - The Song of the Talking Wire.jpg Taft Museum of Art
1905 Fording a Stream
(or Breaking a Pony;
or Fording the Stream), oil on canvas
Farny 13.jpg 21 in × 32 in (53.3 cm × 81.3 cm) IAP 43590039
1906 The Last of the Herd,
oil on canvas
'The Last of the Herd' by Henry Farny, Cincinnati Art Museum.JPG 22.1 in × 38.6 in (56.1 cm × 98.0 cm) Cincinnati Art Museum,
Cincinnati, OH
IAP 40800951
1906 Rounded Up, by God
(or Rounded up by God) (1906?),
oil
Farny 38.jpg
color image
40 in × 22 in (101.6 cm × 55.9 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040006
1909 On the Trail Home
(or On the Home Trail),
oil
color image 14 in × 24 in (35.6 cm × 61.0 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040007
1910 Pere Marquette
(or Into the Unknown),
oil
Farny 35.jpg
color image
41.5 in × 23 in (105.4 cm × 58.4 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040008
1911 The Moment of Suspense
(or A Moment of Suspense),
oil
Henry Farney A Moment Of Suspense.jpg
color image
24 in × 16 in (61.0 cm × 40.6 cm) IAP 86040041
1912 Departure for the Buffalo Hunt,
oil on canvas
Henry Farney Departure For The Buffalo Hunt.jpg 22 in × 32 in (55.9 cm × 81.3 cm) IAP 86040032 IAP 8C280012
Fort Totten Trail,
watercolor
Henry Farney Fort Totten Trail.jpg 8.3 in × 15 in (21.1 cm × 38.1 cm) IAP 63005226
The Thunder Horse,
oil
color image 16.6 in × 24 in (42.2 cm × 61.0 cm) American Heritage Center,
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY
IAP 59040014
Silent Guest,
oil
11.7 in × 8.3 in (29.8 cm × 21.0 cm) IAP 61515285

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Clark, S. J. (1912). Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume 2. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. pp. 449. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  2. ^ "Henry F. Farny". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Dawdy, Doris Ostrander (1974). Artists of the American West. Sage Books. p. 84. ISBN 0-8040-0607-5.
  4. ^ "Past Presidents". Cincinnati Art Club. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  5. ^ Levy, Florence Nightingale (1917). American Art Directory, Volume 14. The American Federation of the Arts. p. 322.
  6. ^ "Bonhams : Henry F. Farny (American, 1847-1916) Southern Plains Indian warrior, 1894 16 x 11in". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  7. ^ "Bonhams : Newly discovered masterwork brings $362,500 during May auction at Bonhams". www.bonhams.com. Retrieved 2016-03-28.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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