Live Auction 21168Stewards of the West: The Knobloch Collection
HENRY F. FARNY (1847-1916)
Lot 19

HENRY F. FARNY (1847-1916)

A Dance of Crow Indians

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HENRY F. FARNY (1847-1916)
A Dance of Crow Indians
signed '·Farny·' with artist's device (lower right)
gouache en grisaille on paper
14 1⁄4 x 21 3⁄4 in. (36.2 x 55.2 cm.)
Executed circa 1883.

A.B. Closson, Jr. Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Private collection, Miami, Florida, acquired from the above, 1963.
Christie's, New York, 23 May 2001, lot 86, sold by the above.
Acquired by the late owner from the above.

Specialist note

The present work was reproduced as an illustration for the article "Dance of the Crow Indians" published in the December 15, 1883 edition of Harper's Weekly. The author writes, "The Northern Pacific Railway crosses their reservation, which lies on the Upper Yellowstone, under the shadows of the Belt Range of the Rockies, and when the excursion which formally opened the road passed through their domain, the Crows celebrated the occasion by a series of 'grass' dances, which were the most picturesque episode of that notable journey...The lurid light of the camp fires, deafening drum-beat, jingling bells of the dancers, and weird monotonous chant of the singers were echoed by the whistle of the locomotives as the excursion trains successively drew up." ("Dance of the Crow Indians," Harper's Weekly, December 15, 1883, p. 799)