Howard Pyle

(American, 1853-1911)

The Two Cornets of Monmouth: On sped the light chestnut, with the little officer bending almost to the saddle-bow, 1891

oil on canvas

signed H. Pyle (lower right)

23 1/4 x 15 3/4 in.

Provenance:

Judy Goffman American Paintings, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.

Acquired directly from the above.

Private Collection, Virginia.

Exhibited:

Wilmington, Delaware Art Museum "Howard Pyle: The Artist and His Legacy," March 29 – June 21, 1987 (traveling to the Brandywine Museum of Art).

Literature:

A. E. Watrous, “The Two Cornets of Monmouth,” Harper’s Weekly, September 12, 1891, cover illustration.

Paul Preston Davis, Howard Pyle. His Life-His Work, vol. 2, Wilmington, 2004, no. MBPI1262, pp. 479; 776, illustrated.

Lot Note:

Storytelling is an integral part of Howard Pyle’s artistic practice. A successful illustration does not merely capture a moment; rather, it encapsulates its unfolding, hinting at what preceded it and what might ensue. Here, Pyle dramatizes the June 28th, 1778 Battle of Monmouth, a momentous episode in the American Revolutionary War, at a time when George Washington was losing support from his army as Commander-in-Chief and needed a victory to inspire his fellow compatriots and boost the momentum the fledgling nation required to flourish.

More than a century later, when Pyle executed this painting, historians knew that the Battle of Monmouth had a rather inconsequential outcome and did not, in fact, see Washington unequivocally victorious. But Washington and the Continental Army did capitalize on the fact that they did not cede ground to the British Army, and the battle still became, in the collective psyche, a landmark episode.

The scene portrayed here, imbued with heroism and grit, subscribes to this narrative, borrowing visual elements typically found in epic tales. The vertical composition is anchored by the stern figure of the soldier raising his sword, readying to deal a last and fatal blow to the enemy, with an exhilarated infantry in the background. The medium of the grisaille, with its sharp focus, furthers the event’s significance, fixing in paint not just a moment in time, in the manner of a snapshot, but the very spirit of the nation.

The Two Cornets of Monmouth: On sped the light chestnut, with the little officer bending almost to the saddle-bow, 1891