Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

Ag in Art

The Stampede, by Frederick Remington, 1908

Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 - December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer. As a young man, he traveled widely throughout the country, spending most of his time sketching the people and places in the new American frontier. In 1886 he established himself as an illustrator of Western themes, and sold his work to many of the major magazines of the time including, Harper's Weekly. While most of his best known work was in illustration, he was also a fine painter, capturing on his canvases the sweeping vistas, heroic figures, and moments of danger and conflict that came to define the archetypal romance of the West.

By 1900 Remington had begun to experiment with impressionism. The Stampede was painted during this period. His painting at this time showed a rejection of the crisp linear illustrator style he had used previously. Instead he began to concentrate on mood, color and light - sunlight, moonlight, and firelight. This painting is part of the permanent collection at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa.

Activites:

  • Make a list of adjectives to describe this painting.
  • What details does the artist use to show movement?
  • Identify the horizontal and vertical lines.
  • What is the dominant color?
  • What other colors does the artist use? What effects do the different colors have?
  • What is the center of interest? What is in the background?
  • Where is the light? Where is the shadow?
  • How does the artist make us see which objects are in the foreground and which are in the background?
  • What does this painting tell us about cattle drives and the American West?
  • Remington was known for romanticizing the Old West - making it appear more glamourous than it really was. What do you see in this painting that might be an example of this tendency?
  • Write and share stories about this painting.

P.A.S.S. for these activities

  • Kindergarten - Visual Arts: 1.1a.Writing: 1.1,2,3
  • Grade 1 - Visual Arts: 1.1,2,3.4; 2.1,3; 3.1,2. Writing: 2.1; 3.1e.
  • Grade 2 - Visual Arts: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,3; 3.1,2. Writing; 2.2abc; 3.1g.
  • Grade 3 - Visual Arts: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,3; 3.1,2. Writing: 2.3ab,7; 3.1i.
  • Grade 4 - Visual Arts: 1.2,3; 2.1,2; 3.1,2,5. Writing: 2.2; 3.1h.
  • Grade 5 - Visual Arts: 1.1,2; 2.1,2; 3.1,2. Writing: 2.1; 3.1f
  • Grade 6 - Visual Arts: 1.1,2,3; 2.1,2,5; 3.1,2,5. Writing: 2.2; 3.1e
  • Grade 7 - Visual Arts: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,2; 3.1,5. Writing: 2.8; 3.1h
  • Grade 8 - Visual Arts: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,2; 3.1,5. Writing: 2.8; 3.1f

Related lesson online: Hit the Trail

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Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, 4-H Youth Development, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.