Send an ecard of this image

Racing Fever

Indulge in racing fever two ways today! Catch the Preakness Stakes on television and view our traveling show Lure of the West: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Today is your last chance to see the exhibition in person at the Museum of Art at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Tomorrow it packs up and heads to the Knoxville Museum of Art in Tennessee.

A. Phimister Proctor's incredible equine sculpture, Pursued, is one of many artworks in the show that pays tribute to Native Americans and their culture. Proctor executed a first version of this sculpture in 1914, using the Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf as his model. In 1928, he modeled this second version, changing what had been Little Wolf's spear into a tomahawk, slinging a quiver over his shoulder, and lowering the flap of his loincloth to keep it in line with the horse's tail. The effect of these changes is that the horse and rider seem to fly.

The artist conveys movement, not only in the horse's straining limbs and open mouth, but also by setting him on a swirling base that looks like whipped-up grasses set in motion by his flying hooves. With tomahawk in hand, this warrior looks heroic, godly, and—despite being chased—ultimately unconquerable.

Source: Amy Pastan. The Lure of the West: Treasures of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (New York and Washington, D.C.: Watson-Guptill Publications, in cooperation with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2000).

Pictured: A. Phimister Proctor, 1862 Canada–1950 USA, Pursued, modeled 1914, remodeled 1928, bronze, 17 1/16 x 24 1/8 x 5 5/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.