Taft Museum

Cincinnati, Ohio

(513) 241-0343

The Vanishing Frontier: Henry F. Farny, 1847-1916

Henry Farny

Indian Scout, 1896,

gouache on paper

Private collection

Photo: Tony Walsh

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of artist Henry F. Farny, the museum presents the special exhibition "The Vanishing Frontier: Henry F. Farny, 1847-1916" from June 13 through October 19, 1997. Farny is best remembered as a painter of American Indians, particularly those who lived on the Great Plains. Popular in his day, he continues to be a favorite of collectors and museum-goers for his evocative scenes of an American West that no longer exists and was dying even in Farny's day.

The exhibition includes 35 works, both oil paintings and gouaches, from private and public collections.

Farny began his career as an illustrator, studied landscape painting in Europe, and made three trips to the western territories to study American Indian life. By the 1890's Farny had become Cincinnati's most celebrated painter. He was patronized by the city's leading citizens, including Taft Museum founders Anna Sinton and Charles Phelps Taft, and by such personages as Theodore Roosevelt and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

Henry F. Farny

Pastures New, 1899

gouache on paper, 11 1/4 x 19 1/4 inches

Private collection

Photo: Tony Walsh

Additional Images:

• The Song of the Talking Wire
• Moqui Indian Snake Dance
• Shield

Photos and text courtesy of Taft Museum.

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