Trail Boss

Copied Harry Jackson, Trail Boss, 1958, bronze, 16 7⁄8 x 3 1⁄4 x 19 in. (42.8 x 8.3 x 48.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Olin Dows, 1983.90.220

Artwork Details

Title
Trail Boss
Artist
Date
1958
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
16 7⁄8 x 3 1⁄4 x 19 in. (42.8 x 8.3 x 48.3 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Olin Dows
Mediums
Mediums Description
bronze
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure male — full length
  • Occupation — other — cowboy
  • Equestrian
Object Number
1983.90.220
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.90.220

Artwork Description

“The West inspires my life,” Harry Jackson said, and Trail Boss and Where the Trail Forks are two of his many bronzes of the subject. When Jackson was a child in Chicago, his mother worked as a waitress near the stockyards, where cowboys and cattle traders gathered and told tales of the Old West. He wanted to present cowboys as realistically as possible, and liked “taking something that [movies] have made saccharine and making it real again.” (Janet Wilson, ARTnews, December 1978; Time, May 30, 1960)