A
gift from recently deceased Parkland resident Mary W. Barnes,
this sculpture was given to her husband, the late Leslie O.
Barnes, by Ryder Trucks upon his retirement as Ryder’s
President and CEO. The chest that it sits on was in Mr. Barnes’
office. Daughter and former Parkland resident Amy Zafer says
that because her father loved books and libraries and that the
horse theme is part the City’s personality, the Parkland
Library is a fitting home for the piece.
An original
casting of this bronze is in the Corcoran Gallery of Art in
Washington DC. The Corcoran uses the title “Off the Range”,
while the Remington Museum refers to it as “Coming Through
the Rye.” Notice how few of the horses’ hooves are
touching the ground, and how the cowboys are joined only at
the knees. This is one of 25 sculptures and 2,750 paintings
done by Remington. Frederic Remington was born in Canton, New
York and traveled in the American West for 4 years after attending
Yale Art School. During his travels, he produced hundreds of
illustrations which became the foundation of all of his future
work. He became the most important artist to record the Western
frontier. The Frederick Remington Art Museum is located in Ogdensburg
NY.
To learn more about Remington and his works, see the library’s copy of
Wicked
Pony 1898