Frank B. Hoffman (American, 1888-1958). Chuckwagon. Graphite drawing on paper, n.d. Signed at lower left.. A spirited graphite study by Frank B. Hoffman (American, 1888-1958), capturing a chuckwagon in motion across the open range. The team of horses surges forward at left, their muscular forequarters rendered in confident, smudged tonal strokes, while the canvas-bonneted wagon, water barrels lashed to its side, follows in loose suggestion behind. Hoffman, a Chicago-trained illustrator and protege of J. Wellington Reynolds, abandoned the commercial bustle of the East for a ranch in Taos, New Mexico, where he steeped himself in the working life of the American cowboy. His drawings of the West, executed for Brown & Bigelow calendars and for publications such as True and Field & Stream, prized economy of gesture above polish, and this sheet exemplifies that aesthetic: a working sketch in which the swiftness of the line carries the heat, dust, and forward momentum of the trail. Signed at lower left in pencil, on tissue-weight paper with deckled edges. Size of drawing: 9" W x 7.5" H (22.9 cm W x 19.1 cm H); of paper:13" W x 10.75" H (33.0 cm W x 27.3 cm H).

About the artist: Frank B. Hoffman was a painter and illustrator whose vivid, gestural canvases of horses, cattle, and western life made him one of the more commercially successful artists to come out of the Taos art colony. Born in New Orleans, he developed an early fascination with animals watching his father's racehorses, an affection that would shape his subject matter for the rest of his life.

After relocating to Chicago, Hoffman illustrated for the Chicago American and studied painting under J. Wellington Reynolds. Poor eyesight kept him out of military service during World War I, and in 1916 he headed west, spending time on dude ranches and Indian reservations before taking a public relations post with Glacier National Park. He eventually settled in Taos, New Mexico, where working alongside Leon Gaspard sharpened his palette and loosened his brushwork considerably. His Hobby Horse Ranch, stocked with longhorns, ponies, mules, dogs, and at least one eagle and one bear, kept him in willing models.

His painterly handling attracted major advertisers including General Electric and General Motors, and he closed his career illustrating exclusively for Brown and Bigelow in St. Paul, Minnesota. His work is held by the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, the Joslyn Art Museum, and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, among others.

Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico USA collection; ex-private Maine, USA collection

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Item #203066

Poor. Chips to edge of paper and creasing throughout. Drawing is still clear. Signed at lower left.