Signed and titled lower right: On Pease River / F. Reaugh

Private collection, Ridgetown, Canada.

Frank Reaugh (American, 1860-1945) On Pease River Pastel on board 5-3/8 x 12 inches (13.5 x 30.5 cm) Signed and titled lower right: On Pease River / F. Reaugh PROVENANCE: Private collection, Ridgetown, Canada. "Given its size and quality, On Pease River, is an excellent example of Frank Reaugh's mastery of the ‘cattle country west of Fort Worth,' as he referred to it." -Michael Grauer, Current McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture/Curator of Cowboy Collections and Western Art, former Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs/Curator of Art at the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, and eminent Frank Reaugh scholar. Frank Reaugh's pastel On Pease River is a synthesis of his experiences in his beloved West Texas. The Pease River runs eastward for 100 miles from the confluence of its three branches (North, Middle, and South Pease--or Tongue-rivers) twenty miles northeast of Paducah, Texas, in northern Cottle County. The Pease crosses Wilbarger County and flows in the Red River eight miles northeast of Vernon, Texas. The Pease, Wichita, and the three forks of the Brazos river were favored painting sites for Reaugh. On Pease River coalesces Mr. Reaugh mastery of the West Texas sky—in this case at dusk with a dust or cloud hovering over the horizon—and his sensitivity in rendering the multi-hued reds and oranges of the Early Permian geologic strata called the "Texas Red Beds." The cut-bank of the Pease in this scene speak to the power of water in these soft, loamy soils. Mr. Reaugh depicted a herd of largely wild longhorns—or Texas cattle as he called them—coming to their evening watering in the pools left standing after a recent rain or flash flood. Mr. Reaugh's skill in capturing the illusions of the reflections of cattle in the pools is on full display. He included the conifers, mainly junipers and cedars, on the far bank as well as grasses in the river bottom. A great lover of birds, Mr. Reaugh included a ubiquitous flock of birds in the background left, using only the sparest of marks from his pastel crayon. Reaugh was an artist who devoted his considerable artistic skills to impressionistic depictions of West Texas. He has been called the "Dean of Texas Artists" because in the 1890s, the first of many art students began accompanying him on his frequent West Texas sketching trips. Most of Reaugh's pastels are small, and therefore, well adapted to transport and use in open country. This allowed him to travel the vast expanses of the state easily and to work in the outdoors with relatively little fuss. His pastel landscapes are considered some of the most poetic depictions of Texas ever produced. HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

Framed under glass. Hinged with non-archival tape verso. Small 1/2 inch stain along the right center edge. Framed Dimensions 10.5 X 17 Inches