Western & Contemporary Native American Art

Provenance:

Estate of Rachael Z. Allen, Houston, Texas

Private Collection

Overland Trail Fine Art Galleries, Scottsdale, Arizona

George Phippen had little training in art apart from three months with Henry Balink in Santa Fe. Through his own talent and perseverance he secured a contract to illustrate catalogues for Brown and Bigelow. Soon after, Phippen began to make a name and living painting the American West. Phippen, who was the first President of the Cowboy Artists of America, once said, “The art game, which includes illustrating, fine art, and cartooning, is considered about the toughest business there is… but no job holds the freedom the arts do once you make the grade.” The concept of “costly” in When Freighting Was Costly has multiple meanings: costly to the teamsters, the oxen, the company, the attacking Natives—and to the customer. Such losses would have been built into the price of goods and of doing business in the Old West. In this painting, our attention goes to the stoic teamster using a dead oxen as cover, calmly smoking his pipe. In contrast with this unflustered character, Phippen uses a good deal of color and paint movement overall to convey the urgency of the action.

-James D. Balestrieri