WILLIAM HENRY DETHLEF KOERNER (American, 1878-1938). Riding the Range, 1909. Oil on canvas. 30 x 24 inches (76.2 x 61.0 ...

Description

WILLIAM HENRY DETHLEF KOERNER (American, 1878-1938)
Riding the Range, 1909
Oil on canvas
30 x 24 inches (76.2 x 61.0 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: Koerner / 09
Inscribed verso: The Gunfighter / Koerner
From the Estate of Charles Martignette

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Jackson Hole, Wyoming;
Private collection, Phoenix;
Private collection Santa Fe;
Altermann Galleries, Santa Fe (label verso).

LITERATURE:
G. Patullo, "The Gunfighter: Padden Meets His Match", Saturday Evening Post, June 5, 1909.

This was Mr. Koerner's first assignment for the Saturday Evening Post, and was published June 5, 1909. The story itself had a variant of what became a basic plot in this genre: a cold-eyed Texan was hired to eliminate a homesteader in the the middle of a large ranch's unknown range, but succumbed to the blandishments of the delectable daughter. Mr. Koerner's illustration was marked by the fact that the heroine's face no longer resembled that of his wife Lillian (who had been his model for many of his early illustrations) and the horses were tremendously alive.


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