HENRY FRANCOIS FARNY, (American, 1847-1916), Mother and

HENRY FRANCOIS FARNY
(American 1847-1916)
Mother and Child
1900 gouache
signed and dated Farny 1900 l.r.
sheet: 5 7/8 x 4 3/8 in. frame: 13 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.

Provenance: By descent to a Massachusetts Lady.

Henry FarnyÕs fascination with Native Americans began at an early age when his family settled in Western Pennsylvania near a Seneca Indian reservation. Farny showed artistic promise as a child and as a young adult trained under the noted landscape artist Albert Bierstadt. Following his artistic education in Europe Farny spent most of his career painting scenes of the American West and unlike many of his peers chose to emphasize peaceful and everyday moments of Native American life.
Mother and Child is an exquisite example of FarnyÕs celebrated portraits of Native Americans. The characteristically light impressionist color palette of the background coupled with the emotive intimate depiction of the mother and child highlights FarnyÕs ability to render both landscape and figure in exquisite lasting detail. It is clear from this image why Theodore Roosevelt was reported to have once remarked ÒFarny the nation owes you a great debt. It does not realize it now but it will some day. You are preserving for future generations phases of American history that are rapidly passing away.Ó