western american art

Long Jakes, "the Rocky Mountain Man", Charles Deas

With this painting, Charles Deas established the mountain man, with his independent life in the wilderness, as a truly iconic American character.

In a pose reminiscent of the traditional equestrian portrait of a hero, the mountain man turns in his saddle to look behind him. Although this fellow may hardly seem a hero, dressed as he is in the worn garb of a trapper and with his chapped red face and droopy horse, he was a hero in the national view. The trapper may even be a sort of self-portrait. Although Long Jakes and Deas do not share similar features, Deas was known for dressing in an eccentric, archaic style.

European & American Art