Remington and Monet

            For this paper I will be comparing Federick Remington's "Night Halt of the Calvary" with Claude Monet's “The Custom-officers’ Cabin, Varengeville."  I was unable to get to an art gallery or museum, so I relied on portrayals from books.  For Remington I used "Frederick Remington, The Masterworks," by Michael Edward Shapiro and Peter H. Hassrick. (Shapiro, pp. 151-153)  For Monet I used "Claude Monet: Life and Work," by Virginia Spate. (Spate, p. 153)

            Remington's work is oil on canvas painted in 1908.  It measures 27 x 40 in., and can be seen at the Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Monet's painted his work in 1882.  It is also oil on canvas, measuring 60 x 78 inches, and can be found at the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam.

            When I first saw Remington’s painting, “Night Halt of the Calvary,” my thought was that it was a rather boring depiction.  Initially all I could see was that it was a painting consisting of only three colors; blue, green and black.  The landscape depicted in the painting also seemed less than exciting.  The top third of the picture was clear sky, while the bottom two thirds of the painting’s landscape was of grassland.  The sky and grass was separated only by a long line of what appears to be trees, but there seemed to be no form to the trees.  At first glance I thought these trees to be a long line of bushes.

            A clear but shallow sky of dark greens and faded blue hues , a grassy landscape of muted hues of green, and a formless line of trees separating sky and land did not make the painting appealing to me at first glance.  Of course, as the title suggests, there were also soldiers and their horses depicted.  But they too, were painted with dark hues and what first seemed to be formless lines.

            As I studied the painting, however, more detail and more interesting aspects of the painting began to appear.  This painting is one of Remington’s nocturnes; a painting depicting a nighttime scene.  The focal point of the painting is four U.S. Calvary soldiers, and their horses.  All of them are facing to the left of the painting.  When I first looked at the picture, after noting the lack of color, my eyes fell on the horses, and then on the soldier in the foreground.  He is sitting on the ground in front of what can be assumed to be his mount.  He has his legs crossed in front of him, in a kind of yoga style, and he is leaning forward, resting both elbows on his knees.  His arms appear to be overlapping each other.  He is bent over so that his head is leaning over his knees.  His hat lays on the ground in front of him.  He appears to be very tired.

            To this soldier’s right, at about a forty-five degree angle ahead of him, and maybe six feet away, is the figure of the second soldier.  There are some very striking contrasts between the two soldiers.  Unlike the first soldier, this one seems to be very alert.  Rather than sitting he appears to be leaning on his right knee with his left leg bent in such a way as to make it appear as though he is positioned to stand up very quickly, if needed.  He is looking directly out of the picture, as though looking at the person viewing the painting.

            This second soldier seems to have been alerted by a sound or movement off in that direction.  Not only is he posed as though ready to stand up, but his left arm lays lightly across his left leg, and in that hand he holds a rifle.  His pose give every indication that he is ready to face whatever it is he thought he heard or saw in the distance.  The look on his face indicates that he does not trust any sound or movement as the potential for being anything other than unfriendly.  The soldiers appear to be in the middle of a vast, and probably unmapped, and likely unfriendly area of the western plains.  This soldier is probably more alert because he carries more responsibility for the welfare of the other soldiers.  He appears to be older; his hair and moustache are not as dark as the younger looking soldier in the foreground. 

            Next to him sits the third soldier.  He is sitting up, more alert than the first soldier, but does not appear to be as cautiously aware of something in the distance, as is the second soldier.  While all the other soldiers sit facing to the left of the painting, he sits faces out from the painting.  It appears he may not have heard or seen anything, but is aware of his commander’s alarm.  He sits with his right leg bent and his right arm resting over that leg.  In his right hand rests his rifle.  He appears to be looking out over the prairie searching for what may have alarmed the second soldier, but does not appear to be as concerned.

            Finally, barely visible, the fourth soldier can be seen in the background.  When I first viewed the painting I missed this soldier all together.  As a matter of fact I wondered why there were four horses and only three soldiers, quickly assuming one must be a pack horse.  But, when I observed that none of the horses seemed to be carrying any extra supplies, I began to look for a fourth soldier.  I found him much in the same pose as the first soldier, but with his hat still on.  It appears as though he is sitting directly under the nose of his mount, and is almost lost in the night shadows.

            Almost everything about this painting speaks of long days and even longer nights for a foursome of soldiers scouting out a vast part of the prairie wilderness.  The poses of the men and their horses, with their heads bowed in exhaustion, tells the viewer that they have had a long tiring day.  The fact that it is late at night, as revealed by a sky full of stars, means that they have probably been riding for quite a while into the night.  They appear to have just recently dismounted.  This is suggested by the title of the painting, which also suggests that they will continue to ride once they’ve rested awhile.

The fact that the soldiers seem to be pausing for a few moments rather than preparing for a night’s rest indicates they still have a long night ahead of them.  This realization is apparent even without knowing the title of the painting. There has been no gear removed, and no bedding or camping equipment placed on the ground.  All indications are that they have stopped for a short rest only.  There has been no gear removed, and no bedding or camping equipment placed on the ground.  All indications are that they have stopped for a short rest only.

The shadows from the men and their horses indicates that it is a moon lit night.  It is a good probability that there is a full moon shining on this night.  The horses in particular seem to reflect the light of the moon.  And, although there are many stars, anyone who spends the night in an area where there are no other lights knows that more stars than appear in this painting would be seen.  The abundance, but not the proliferation of stars that one would expect to be seen in the wilderness speaks of a bright moon.  Finally, the fact that so much detail can be seen in the features of both the men and their animals means that the light from the moon must be bright enough to reflect some colors off them.

Remington was able to use the different hues of green and blue to capture the vision one has on such a moon lit night.  He is able to remind one of their own experience of such a night when all creatures, other living things and formations are recognizable yet take on a different look than what they have during the light of day.  The almost eerie feeling one gets on such a night is what I saw in this picture.  I can just imagine the captain or lieutenant hearing a sound in the distance and wondering if what he saw was just a shadow or something or someone moving.  What was initially a boring scene to me now has become quite an interesting depiction of a moon lit night and all its mystery.

By creating nocturnal scenes such as this one Remington was able to use very similar hues in a very striking way.  The tones of greens, ranging from the full saturation that is almost  black, to the very light saturation that comes very close to being yellow allowed him to create the illusion of light reflecting even off blades of grass.  The greens fade into the blue of the sky and the brown of the horses, giving the sense one gets at night that what was once a brilliant color during the day has almost lost all its color at night.  Only the light of the moon allows colors to be distinguished, but even then they seem to blend together in such a way as to make the beginning of one color indistinguishable from the end of another.

Even the blue of the soldier’s trousers blend in with the greens of the prairie grasses.  Remington was able to depict what we see ourselves at night.  Colors are more muted.  Tones are less distinct.  Similar hues seems to blend in with each other, and even contrasting colors no longer show distinct lines; are less sharp.

The lines in this painting also helped give me the initial sense that this was a boring painting.  They are very simple.  The position of the horses and men create a triangle that, along with the trees on the horizon, form vanishing points just outside the painting both to the left and to the right. 

The right side of the horizon is lower than the left, and though they are obviously on a relatively flat plain, the rise of the horizon, and the elevation of the left vanishing point over the right vanishing point give the impression of a long night and an up-hill struggle.  This adds to the perception that these soldiers have been travelling for a great distance, and have yet a great distance ahead of them.  All the lines seem to go from right to left, in the direction the men and their horses are facing.  The background lines are all focused on one area; that of the horizon.  As mentioned earlier, the line of trees are the only thing that separates the sky from the prairie.  Without them even the hues in the sky might be mistaken for a never ending expanse of prairie land.  There definitely is more blue in the sky, but without the line of trees this might well have been perceived to be the difference in hue depicting the distance of the vast prairie grasses.

All-in-all, what Remington has done with these simple lines is depict a very desolate and lonely scene.  The soldiers are tired.  They have been riding through desolate prairie wilderness for many hours, if not days.  The vastness of the painting reveals this notion to the viewer.

Although Remington is considered an impressionist painter this painting does offer a great deal of detail.  “He refused to abandon the first or to desert his imagination.” (Shapiro, p. 149)  You get the sense that he painted each blade of grass on the prairie, especially around the men and horses.  Here they seem to be resting in a deep grass that, in places, seems to rise a foot or more.

Detail is also very much present in the muscles on the neck of the horse in the foreground.  This animal also appears tired, and even slightly emaciated.  The muscles and tendons in his neck are tight and worn.  There seems to be very little meat on the bones of his neck.  The entire scene reveals a tired group of creatures.

Claude Monet’s, “’The Custom-officer’s Cabin, Varengeville,” unlike Remington’s, “Night Halt of the Calvary,” is an explosion of color.  Or so it seems upon the first viewing of the painting.  Closer inspection, however, reveals that Monet, just as did Remington, used only a few colors, in varying tones, to obtain his desired effect.

Neither Remington or Monet strayed far from the use of the primary colors, red, yellow and blue.  Remington used the primary color of blue as the base hue of his painting.  Though many other hues are present, they do not stand out.  Blue and green are the prominent hues.  Monet used all the primary colors, in combination with the secondary colors of orange, green and purple or indigo, to create a painting that upon first glance seems to be filled with many varying hues.  However, with very few exceptions, including a little white in the lower right corner and along the top of the painting, Monet did not use more than these six colors in his painting.

Both artists were evidently very aware of the importance of light to the saturation and value of color.  Very little light, as in Remington’s painting, means very low value and little saturation of the otherwise bright hues.  Thus he was able to accurately depict a night scene.  Monet’s painting, on the other hand, uses hues with full saturation and high value.  The reds, yellows, and oranges are bright as though reflecting the light of the sun.  It is obvious, with this type of reflection of light, and the shadows behind both the cabin and some of the foliage that we are viewing an early morning scene.

Monet created, “. . . paintings of the Custom-officers’ cabin, depicted in calm or stormy weather, bright or clouded sun, from early morning to late afternoon.” (Spate, p. 153)  Here we have one of his early morning depictions of this scene.  For some reason, when I first looked at this painting my eyes immediately wandered away from the colors on the land, and began to gaze out to the sea.  I don’t know if this was Monet’s desired effect, but I do know that whenever I go to the beach I always want to look out to the sea, no matter what beauty may be surrounding me on the shore.  When one climbs to a point above the sea, as depicted in this painting, it is quite natural to want to look out over that which lays below you.  I felt as if I were standing at a vantage point I just reached after coming from somewhere inland.  My natural inclination at this point would be to look out to sea, and that is just what I did as I viewed this painting.

My first impression was that this was the beginning of a warm summer day.  The sun is just rising to the east, but is already warm enough to burn off some of the fog that now rests only on the horizon.  The horizon, unlike Remington’s which angles upward from right to left, is straight across the top fifth of the painting.  The eye level is looking down on both the sea and the cabin, but looks almost straight out to the horizon.  This level is probably what caused me, besides my natural inclination, to look out to the sea first, and got the initial impression that this was a summer day.

Once I brought my eyes back to view the entire painting, however, I realized this was more likely the depiction of an autumn scene.  Still, it does seem to be a very peaceful and relaxing scene, bringing to mind the Indian summers I so much enjoyed in my youth, and still do enjoy when I can take the time to do so. 

The title of Monet’s painting suggests that this cottage was built on the cliff because of its vantage point overlooking the sea.  From here the inhabitant of the cottage, evidently the custom’s officer, can view all ships coming in from the sea.  A fence leads from the side of the cottage toward the cliff as though it borders a path that leads down to the sea itself.  I can just imagine there is some sort of dock where this path ends, and tied to the dock is the custom officer’s boat.  Thus he can make his way to the ship, as needed, when one enters his harbor.

As you view the painting you can see ships entering the harbor as the sun, reflecting off the sails, place an image of the sail on the sea in front of the ship.  The position of the sails seem to indicate they are getting a wind from the west or left of the painting, and are being gently swept into the harbor.  Even the bushes on land seem to be slightly swept from left to right, as though a wind was blowing in from the sea.

Just below the clouds, at eye level, the sea is blue, giving the initial impression of warm waters.  But as your eye drops to take in the rest of the painting you notice that the sea begins to turn green, suggesting a much cooler body of water.  Autumn is indeed upon this beautiful scene.  The early sun on the western shore of France shines on both the sea and the foliage of the hillside.  The shadow on the back wall of the cabin tells us the sun is still rising before midday.

The greens in the water suggests a cooler season than what I initially thought to be summer.  By the proliferation of autumn hues it is apparent that this scene takes place well into the autumn season.

By comparing Remington’s “Night Halt of the Calvary” to Monet’s “The Custom-officers’ Cabin, Varengeville,” one is able to see how the addition of the secondary colors can add so much to the appearance of the painting.  As I noted earlier, Monet really only added the primary color of red, and the secondary colors of orange and indigo to his painting.  Remington did not use these three colors.  Yet by adding just those three colors Monet was able to give the painting so much more light. 

In conjunction with the addition of these three colors it can also be seen that the saturation and value of the same colors can be used to depict either a night scene or a very bright day scene.  Remington’s combination of low saturation and low value gives his nocturnal paintings the hues necessary to depict a night time scene.  Monet’s combination of high saturation and high value allowed him to paint a picture full of early morning light.

Works Cited

 Shapiro, Michael Edward, and Peter H. Hassrick.  Frederick Remington, The Masterworks.  New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1988.

 Spate, Virginia.  Claude Monet, Life and Work.  New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.,  1992.