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Dangerous Ground 1897 gouache on paper signed, dated, and with artist's monogram, lower right housed in a Closson's frame sight size 7" x 9.75" Executed in 1897, Dangerous Ground was completed three years after Farny's last documented journey to the American West. In 1894, the artist traveled to Fort Sill, Oklahoma Territory, where a large group of Apache and Kiowa Indians had been confined to a reservation. The group included the famed Geronimo, a powerful leader who surely interested Farny. (During the early 1880s, Farny's initial travels to the Dakota Territory were spurred by the hopes of meeting Sitting Bull). A lengthy article in the Cincinnati Daily Gazette from Oct. 28, 1894, relates the experiences of the artist at Fort Sill, expressing Farny's sympathetic disposition toward the Apache's plight and his respect for their intelligence and dignity. Upon his return from Oklahoma Territory, many of Farny's resulting works portrayed conflict between Apaches and whites. These narratives carried a sense of tension, often depicting the moments just before a violent encounter. Farny worked in meticulous detail, often employing similar figures in his work, such as the small figure on horseback in a mountain pass. His mountainous Apache scenes are some of the most sought after works in his ouevre.