- Fight for the Waterhole
Frame: 38 1/2 × 51 1/2 × 2 1/8 in. (97.8 × 130.8 × 5.4 cm)
Explore Further
One of Frederic Remington’s masterpieces, this painting depicts cowboys hiding in a waterhole, their source of survival in the arid desert and of protection from the pursuing Plains Indians. The manipulated perspective gives the scene a panoramic quality and introduces a large shadow to convey the idea of “passing”—the ever-present threat of death looming in the Western territories during the Indian Wars, as well as the passing of the West itself.
As an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and writer, Remington created a popular image of the American West as a heroic battleground for U.S. westward expansion. His knowledge of the West grew from his frequent trips there to make sketches, take photographs, and buy the artifacts of Native American cultures and Western frontier life. Back in his studio near New York City, he chronicled vanquished Native American cultures and created images that popularized the cowboy as a national folk hero.
Fight for the Waterhole was published in 1903 in Collier’s Weekly as part of Remington's four-year contract with the magazine to reproduce one painting each month. This alliance encouraged Remington to experiment with his technique, and as seen here, the results included looser brushwork, refined compositions, a bolder palette, and the development of psychological qualities in his art.
Provenance Research Ongoing Exhibition History"Western Art Exhibition," Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, February 4, 1965.
"Western Art," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan, February 17–March 20, 1967.
"The American West," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 20–May 28, 1972; M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, June 29–September 17, 1972; City Art Museum of St. Louis, November 2–December 31, 1972.
"Frederic Remington in the Southwest," Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, January 1–April 1, 1973.
"Frederic Remington: The Master Works," St. Louis Art Museum, March 11–May 22, 1988; Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, June 17–September 5, 1988; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 15, 1988–January 8, 1989; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, February 10–April 16, 1989.
"Myth of the West," Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, September 14–December 2, 1990.
"The West As America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820–1920", National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C., March 15–July 28, 1991.
"American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915," Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 5, 2009–January 24, 2010; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, February 28–May 23, 2010.
"Frederic Remington's Southwest," Phoenix Art Museum, January 4–March 15, 1992; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, April 19–June 21, 1992; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, July 11–September 13, 1992.
Bayou Bend Museum of Americana at Tenneco, Houston, September 22, 1991–February 26, 1993.
"American Painters in the Age of Impressionism," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, December 4, 1994–March 26, 1995.
"New Worlds from Old: Australian and American Landscape Painting of the Nineteenth Century," National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, March 7–May 17, 1998; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, June 2–August 11, 1998; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, September 12, 1998–January 4, 1999; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 26–April 18, 1999.
"The American Landscape East to West: Themes in Painting and Photography, 1780–1910," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 6, 2003–January 19, 2004.
"The Modern West: American Landscapes, 1890–1950," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 29, 2006–January 28, 2007; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 4–June 3, 2007.
"American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915," Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 5, 2009–January 24, 2010; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, February 28–May 23, 2010.
"American Made: 250 Years of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July 7, 2012–January 2, 2013.
"Lonesome Dove: The Art of Story," Sid Richardson Museum, Fort Worth, January 15–March 30, 2016.
"Natural Forces: Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington," Denver Art Museum, June 26–September 7, 2020; "Mythmakers: The Art of Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington," Portland Museum of Art, Maine, September 25–November 29, 2020; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, December 22, 2020–February 28, 2021.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.