Henry Farny: Paintings of Indians

"In Pastures New" by Henry Farny

"During the years 1880 through 1892, Henry Farny illustrated for Harper's, Century, and various publishers. However, he devoted more time to his painting, using both oil and gouache, and began his Indian paintings. Apparently the market for Indian subjects was a good one, and he became well known for them. He took several trips to the West to gather material. 

At that time the West was already becoming a nostalgic subject for Americans. The frontier had officially ceased to exist in 1890; a transcontinental railroad had been completed in 1869 and most of the Indians had been confined to reservations during the 1870s. The buffalo had already passed into legend by the time of Farny's visits.

After collecting a large cache of Indian material while with the Sioux at Fort Yates, he returned to Cincinnati with a number of sketches, mostly Indian portraits rather than landscapes. In addition, he took 124 photographs and acquired a considerable number of artifacts, such as a buffalo tooth necklace, a war bonnet, and a tobacco pouch. This material became the basis for Farny's Indian paintings, because he used and reused certain motifs from these sources to create his compositions. During subsequent western trips Farny added to his collection until he could produce a steady stream of authentic looking paintings without moving from his Cincinnati studio.

According to legend, Farny was given a Sioux name while he was at Fort Yates and a circle and dot became the emblem for that name. Whatever its source, the mark became a distinctive part of Farny's signature and was seldom missing on his work. It is interesting to note that from the time of Farny's change in signature, known examples of his paintings began to increase. 

In the early summer of 1882, Farny went to Washington, D.C. to illustrate Frank Cushing's articles on the Zuni Indians for 'Century Magazine.' He used live models from a contingent of the Zuni who were visiting Washington and photographs of their pueblos to create his illustrations. The first of Cushing's articles appeared in December, 1882 and altogether, they contained at least eighteen illustrations by Farny. 

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Henry Farny" by Denny Carter.)