Pitched It Sheer into the River . . . Where It Still Is Seen in the Summer

Frederic Remington

1889 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

In 1888 Remington was commissioned to illustrate The Song of Hiawatha, the epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, for a deluxe edition published in 1891. By then a sophisticated practitioner of the grisaille technique, Remington executed twenty-two black-and-white oil paintings, one for each of the poem’s cantos. This depiction accompanies canto 6, which describes Hiawatha’s two closest friends: Chibiabos, the musician, and Kwasind, the strong man. The jagged boulder in the river alludes to one of Kwasind’s feats of strength. Taunted with accusations of laziness, he threw a huge rock into the Pauwating River, where it remained visible above the waterline during the summer months.

Artist

Frederic Remington

Date

1889

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Anonymous Gift, 1962