Eugene Edward Speicher

(1883-1962)

Cowboy 44 1/4 x 42 1/4in (112.4 x 107.3cm)

Footnotes

Provenance
The artist.
Frank K.M. Rehn Galleries, New York, by 1933.
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York.
Acquired by the late owners from the above, October 6, 1981.

Exhibited
New York, College Art Association of America, International, 1933, February 6-26, 1933, p. 9, no. 46.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, Thirty-First Annual International Exhibition of Paintings, October 19-December 10, 1933, no 45, pl. 12, illustrated.
New York, Frank K.M. Rehn Galleries, Eugene Speicher, January 2-February 3, 1934.
New York, Slander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., Paintings and Drawings by Eugene Speicher (1883-1962): For the benefit of the Hassam and Speicher Purchase Fund, The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, New York, October 1981, no. 7, front cover illustration (as Allen).

Literature
"International Exhibition of Living Art," New York Herald Tribune, February 5, 1933, vol. XCII, no. 31,493, sec. VIII, part 1, p. 5, illustrated.
E.C. Sherburne, "An International Show for 1933," The Christian Science Monitor, February 11, 1933, vol. XXV, no. 66, p. 12.
F.H. Taylor, "The 'International' at Worcester," The American Magazine of Art, March 1933, vol. 26, no. 3, p. 137, illustrated.
H. Gaul, "Jury of Art Directors Succeeds in Selecting Splendid Group of Paintings, Signalizing A "New Deal" in Juries; It Is a Modern, Contemporary Show, With Various Abstracts and the "isms" and "isis" Of Art in Background," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 19, 1933, vol. 7, no. 69, p. 24.
D. Naylor, "International Exhibit Works Conservative; Art Show Promises Not to Shock the Public So Much This Year; Reviewer Impressed; European and U.S. Artists Have 351 Paintings On Display," The Pittsburgh Press, October 19, 1933, vol. 50, no. 118, p. 18.
"Eugene Speicher Shows Paintings of Last 5 Years: Exhibition at Rehn Gallery to Continue to Feb. 3," New York Herald Tribune, January 3, 1934, vol. XCIII, no. 31,823, p. 14.
E.A. Jewell, "Speicher Returns with 23 Canvases; One-Man Show at the Rehn Gallery Is His Fist Similar Exhibit in 5 Years; Has a Personal Triumph; 'Cowboy' Only One of Pictures of This Period to Have Had a Previous Showing Here," The New York Times, January 3, 1934, vol. LXXXIII, no. 27,738, p. 17.
E.A. Jewell, "In The Realm of Art: The Season's Activity is Resumed; Three One-Man Shows; Eugene Speicher, John Sloan and Ernest Fiene Step Into the Dawn of a New Year," The New York Times, January 7, 1934, vol. LXXXIII, no. 27,742, sec. 10, p. X12.
R. Cortissoz, "Two Americans In Full Length Shows," New York Herald Tribune, January 7, 1934, vol. XCIII, no. 31,829, sec. V, p. 10.
"Woodstock: Catskill colony has nurtured some great names," LIFE, August 22, 1938, vol. 5, p. 26, illustrated (as Woodstock Cowboy).

Eugene Speicher divided his time between New York City and the Woodstock art colony where he was closely associated with prominent artists of the time, such as George Bellows (1882-1925), Guy Pène du Bois (1884-1958), Robert Henri (1865-1929) and Rockwell Kent (1882-1971). Painted on a large-scale format, Speicher's model for Cowboy was Allen Stoutenberg, one of nine children of the stone cutter that helped Speicher to rebuild his home. The writer Inslee A. Hopper of The American Magazine of Art observed that the character of his portraits "often centers in the eyes and hands, and when these are heavily painted the effect remains more tricky than convincing." (I.A. Hopper, "New York Shows," The American Magazine of Art, 1934, vol. 27, no. 3, p. 134) Allen had never traveled far from Woodstock, but he had strong ambitions to become a cowboy and did his best to dress the part. The clothes that he is depicted wearing in the present work are noted as coming from the department store Montgomery Ward.