Remington, Frederic 1861-1909
In a career that spanned less than twenty-five years, Remington produced more than 3,000 drawings and paintings, twenty-two bronze sculptures, a novel, a Broadway play, and over one hundred articles and stories. John Ford's film "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" was inspired directly by Remington's work. The "Marlboro Man" in the well-known cigarette ad was one of Remington's illustrations. His legacy is more about a portrayal of the heroic figures who settled the West and their life-and-death struggles, rather than so much about what he experienced personally on his journeys. He gave Americans stories about what they wanted to see in themselves - independence, bravery and optimism. Even though he only actually lived in the West for only a year, he inspired a love of the West and is reputed to be America's most popular nineteenth century artist. Frederic Remington passed away in 1909 at the age of forty-eight following an emergency appendectomy.