The Rattlesnake (Snake in the Path)

Inscriptions

Inscribed, on top of base, to left of horse's hind leg: Copyright by / Frederic Remington; along side of base, to right of horse: ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N-Y-; along inner rim of base: No 99.

Label

As a horse rears in fear, its rider valiantly tries to maintain his seat. In contrast to this suspended drama, the snake on the ground, head raised, is almost invisible. This dynamic group was among Remington’s most popular bronzes, produced in small and large versions; the bigger casts continued to be produced after Remington’s death. Specializing in depictions of the American West, the artist favored scenes of cowboys, scouts, and trappers. His works contributed to the mythology of the “Wild West” and the romanticization of the lone cowboy. Who was this iconic image originally for and how do you respond to it today?

From the 2026 exhibition Nurturing Nationhood: Artistic Constructions of America, 1790-1940, curated by Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow), Michael Hartman (former Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), and Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collections)

Exhibition History

Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 21, 1992-March 10, 1996.

Nurturing Nationhood: Artistic Constructions of America, 1790-1940, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; February 7-August 29, 2026.

Publication History

Michael Edward Shapiro, Cast and Recast: The Sculpture of Frederick Remington, Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981, p. 51-54.

Barbara J. MacAdam, American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Muesum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2007, p. 123, no. 96.

Provenance

Lawrence Marx, Jr. (1915-2006), Purchase, New York; given to present collection, 1960.

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Subjects