The Rattlesnake Frederic Hemington Analysis

Teresa Heflin
Literature of the American West
22 April 2013
Examining a Work of Art The Rattlesnake is Frederic Hemington’s newest bronze work. This piece is located in the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Hemington created this bronze work in 1904 to tell the dramatic story of the American West. The Rattlesnake is Frederic Hemington’s 12th and final bronze piece, however many consider it one of his best. Hemington created this piece later in his life; it shows the fierce motion of the bronco, which is comparable to the startled horse in A Taint on the Wind that was also painted the same year.
In this bronze piece, Remington shows a cowboy on a bronco, with an aggressive looking rattlesnake on the ground ready to attack the
horse. All of the bodies in the work, the cowboy, the bronco, and the rattlesnake show an element of shock. The rider shows the shock by grabbing his hat, which looks like he almost lost. The rider also looks incredibly unbalanced. The work of Frederic displays the horse in a defensive position in reference to the aggressively statured snake. The horse is extremely surprised, shown by the intense and halting position it is sculpted in. In this day in age, broncos were very susceptible to rattlesnake bites, especially while traveling great distances. The mainstream believe is that broncos will pummel the snake with its hoofs, however broncos do shy away from rattlesnakes, with this being said Remington demonstrates the truth very well. Lastly, the sculpting of the snake is exceptional. Hemington displays the true aggression of the snake by showing the rattlesnake in the coiled striking position, very close to the bronco. The Rattlesnake is the perfect demonstration of battle, hazard, and realism suspended in motion. The bronze piece of art must be looked at from several angles to appreciate the significant details at all sides of the sculpture. Each angle demonstrates a different set of details in the horse, cowboy, and snake that may have not been distinct from another view.
This bronze work of art has great character.
I personally can feel the situation; this piece demonstrates the real situation a bronco’s accurate reaction when encountering a rattlesnake. It does a good job in making the viewer literally hear the bronco neigh. The encounter is intense and the bronze work makes you worry about the cowboy possibly falling of the horse. I truly enjoyed interacting with this piece and making assumption on the unknown, such as what geographical location this occurred in, how exhausted the cowboy and bronco are, and weather or not the cowboy on bronco carry on with their travels without an injury. These open-ended questions make the viewer able to communicate personally with the piece. I believe this piece is truly remarkable when examining the horse. The horse has such great detail, anybody who sees the detail in the horse knows exactly when and how a horse halts and is startled. Hemington shows the bronco’s hind legs flexed strong with muscle tone and veins as the adrenaline in the horse is pumping throughout his massive body. The way the horse is sculpted really talks to the strength of a 1000-pound animal like a bronco. These animals could kill a man just by falling on them, which plays to the severity and intensifies the experience of the viewer. The cowboy has incredibly stiff legs, which makes me feel the sudden halt that made the cowboy flinch his entire body to avoid getting ejected off the horse. The details of the piece paint a very
distinct picture, however, the most important idea that Frederic conveys is the true story of the American West. It’s explains the rugged and brutal travels of a cowboy and bronco across the American terrain. The travels of cowboys were not as simple and unexciting as one might think, the trips were exhausting and encountered many situations that were live threatening or intimidating.
In conclusion, this piece demonstrates great emotion and touches not only the emotions of the viewer but also shows appreciation to the dramatic lifestyle of the American west. Hemington freezes true emotions in the sculpture such as fear, fright, and pure reaction. The piece of bronze art work still feels alive. Frederic Hemington’s, The Rattlesnake, is looked highly at in the art world due to the detail he expresses in such a small bronze sculpture.