Summer 2017

Summer 138 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com The English-born artist Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (1819–1905) found inspiration in the hard-scrabble life and craggy terrain of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. His paintings perpetuated the archetype of the brave hunter who, through courageous acts, con- quered and tamed America’s wilderness. The symbolic implications of such works reflected social anxieties of the time while reinforcing the power of individuals and, in turn, the nation. His painting The Hunter’s Dilemma (Fig. 1), reflects a common storyline in American paintings of the second half of the nineteenth century—the mortal pr e d ic ament . Th i s t heme reflected cultural stresses caused by rapid industrialization—as well as the promises and perils of westward expansion—where the potential rewards were worth the risk of hardship, harm, and possible failure. Potentially sacri- ficing life and limb to retrieve his kill, the hunter in Tait’s painting has climbed down onto a ledge set halfway up the face of a sheer cliff. Dressed in buck- skin, a traditional garb that appears throughout popular cul- ture as the costume associated with such heroic f igures as Daniel Boone, the young man confronts—and pursues the challenge of—the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of hoisting his dead quarry to higher ground. Whe r e a s Ta it depic t ed hunters as heroic figures who conquer nature in the face of seemingly extreme difficulties, Cha rle s De a s’ Th e De a t h Struggle (Fig. 2) portrays the hunter as an interloper and scoundrel who plunders nature’s bounty for personal gain with complete disregard for tres- passing. Painted by Deas at the beginning of a debilitating psychological breakdown, this nightmarish scene depicts a fur trapper and a Native American warrior embracing each other as their horses careen over the edge of a cliff. 1 Considered one of Deas’ most emotionally expressive and artistically important works, it reflects the mental anguish the artist was experiencing at the time, and captures the violent tension that existed between diverging commercial and cultural interests on America’s Western Frontier. The uncertainty of the fates of both the warrior and Fig. 3: Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (1819–1905), A Tight Fix–Bear Hunting, Earl Winter (The Life of a Hunter: A Tight Fix), 1856. Oil on canvas, 40 x 60 inches. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ark. Photography by Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Fig. 4: Winslow Homer (1836–1910), A Huntsman and Dogs, 1891. Oil on canvas, 28⅛ x 48 inches. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pa. The William L. Elkins Collection (1924, E1924-3-8).