Charles Brinton Cox
Charles Brinton Cox (American, 1864 – 1905)
El Texan Vaquero, 1898 (The Texas Cowboy)
Bronze, dark brown patina
16 ½ H. x 18 ¼ W. x 6 ½ D. inches.
Overall: 21 H. x 18 ¼ W. x 7 D. inches
Signed on base: Copyright / Chas Brinton Cox / 1898
Titled on base: El Texan / Vaquero
Stamped on base: Bureau Bro / Phila
Provenance:
Private Estate, Hatfield, Pennsylvania
Private Collection, New York
Exhibited:
Eleventh Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings Oil Paintings and sculpture by American Artists., November 15 through December 18, 1898 at Art Institute of Chicago, Inc. Checklist no. 276.
Universal Exposition St, Louis, USA., April 30 through December 1, 1904 at
Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Checklist no. 2102.
One Hundredth Annual Exhibition., January 23 through March 4, 1905 at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Checklist no. 921.
El Texan Vaquero, 1898 is a rare work by the American artist, Charles Brinton Cox. The subject very specifically depicts a Texas Cowboy, as it’s titled, astride his mount, dramatically leaping over a Texas Prickly Pear cactus in pursuit of his target, an errant steer. The composition is dramatic and unique.
Of special note, this bronze is very possibly the only cast of the model ever executed by the artist and is likely the very one that was exhibited at the 1898 Chicago Art Institute exhibition, also at the 1904 St. Louis Universal Exposition and at the One Hundredth Annual Exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1905. The artist died at 41 that same year, 1905.
Artist Description
Painter and sculptor Charles Brinton Cox, 1864-1905, was born in Philadelphia, dying young in his early forties of tuberculosis in Camden, New Jersey, where he lived.
The artist sculpted animal and figure groups and emphasized historical subjects in his paintings after 1890. Cox studied with Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia and studied at the Art Students League in New York City. He traveled frequently to paint and sculpt in Texas, California, Oregon, California, and Mexico.
Cox exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1890-1905, and at the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, 1896-97, 1901-1902, 1904, with this model included in the 1898 Eleventh Annual Exhibition, catalogue number 276. El Texan Vaquero was also included in the 1904 Universal Exposition, St. Louis, 1904, checklist no. 2102.
