Illustrator, Caricaturist, Photographer, b. 1847 - d. 1916
Artist Henry Farny moved with his family from his native country of France to America in 1853. Initially working as an illustrator, painter Henry Farny identified an interest in Indian culture by art collectors. He traveled the Missouri River, sketching, taking photos, and collecting tribal artifacts to take back to his studio. By 1890, the artist had moved away from illustration and began painting the scenes he'd sketched and seen during trips to the west.
Many Henry Farny Native American paintings for sale are a result of the artist's fascination with Indian culture, creating vivid watercolors and oil paintings depicting Zuni tribal leaders. He would come to do a watercolor of Geronimo, and, eventually, a painting of Sitting Bull, commissioned by the Northern Pacific Railroad. View artwork from eras past by browsing sensational genre paintings for sale online.
Henry Francois Farny (1847 - 1916) 'Tablet Dance' at Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM chromolithograph printed lower margin: INDIAN "TABLET DANCE" AT SANTO DOMINGO NEW MEXICO - from centerfold in an issue of Harper's Weekly Magazine accompanied with Letter of Authenticity
Henry Farny (American/Cincinnati, 1847-1916) Earl of Dunraven and Guide gouache on paper Signed and dated 98, l.r. With artist's "bullseye" remarque labels to verso 14" x 10" (sight) 20" x 16.25" (framed) PROVENANCE The Estate of Nancy DeCourcy Evans, Cincinnati, OH This work was gifted directly from the artist to Dr. Carroll DeCourcy (Cincinnati, 1883–1961). The two were friends, and DeCourcy served as Farny’s physician. At some point, the painting was offered in exchange for medical care. Farny also painted a mural at the DeCourcy home, in the East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati. EXHIBITED The Indian Hill Historical Museum Association, 1975 Exhibited by the above from the C.M. Russell Gallery (C.M. Russell Foundation, Inc.), with label to verso LITERATURE "Henry Farny", exhibition catalogue, Indian Hill Historical Museum Association, 1975. Plate 71. Access our phone bidding form here. LOT ESSAY Henry Farny's picturesque subjects of the American West gained great acclaim during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His knack for capturing expansive Western landscapes, with a "lemon sky" and meticulous detail, were often laden with Native American subjects in the foreground, or some impending conflict related to the closure of the great Western Frontier. Farny was so highly regarded that he was a a featured judge in the Chicago World's Exposition in 1893, and had a national clientele. This subject is particularly interesting, depicting the Earl of Dunraven, who provided a fascinating footnote in Colorado history- specifically Estes Park. Windham-Wyndham Quin (1841-1926), was the 4th Earl of Dunraven, located in Wales, and was an adventurous hunter, soldier, politician, and all around colonialist-tempered fellow of royal descent. He claimed 15,000 acres is what is now current Estes Park, Colorado in 1874, ultimately building a tourist hotel. He spent considerable time there big game hunting and planning for the area, but eventually sold off the land after many claims from settlers, as he had difficulty litigating from a distance. It seems logical that Farny would have found himself in the company of the Earl of Dunraven. He made several trips to the American West, beginning in the 1880s, and covered the Transcontinental Railroad. His most iconic work- "The Song of the Talking Wire" (Taft Museum, Cincinnati), depicts a lone Native American in a stark winter landscape leaning against a newly constructed telegraph wire, a sign of the changing frontier. The Earl of Dunraven made an effort to bend Estes Park to his will, and would have been active in the area during Farny's visits to the West. It is a pristine, fine example of the artist's work, during the height of his career.
Henry Farny (American/Cincinnati, 1847-1916). A pair of pen and ink sketches, each embedded in the same frame, matted and with type. One sketch is a small Native American encampment, and the other is a forested vignette with a lone figure sleeping at the base of a tree. On the verso of this is a hand written poem after one of Longfellow's works. For a similar example, see the Cincinnati Panorama show at Cincinnati Art Galleries- 12/24. Several such sketches have surfaced on the market from Farny's illustration days at the onset of his career, prior to his trips to the American West. Small sketch 2.25" x 2.25" (sight), larger sketch 6.5" x 5.5" (sight), total frame 13.5" x 16".
Henry Farny (American/Cincinnati, 1847-1916). Ink on rice paper, with printed margin, signed l.r. From the artist's illustration days, prior to his work on Native American subjects. 10" x 7" (sight), 16" x 12" (framed).
Oil on board painting. American, early 20th century. The artwork represents the roof of a village house with a Native American man painting ceramic vases. Unsigned. In the manner of Henry Francois Farny, 1847 to 1916, an American artist known for his depictions of American Indian life. Wooden frame. Collectible Fine Art, Americana.
Gouache on board. Title is Rushing Lightning Ogalalla Sioux 1913. Original frame. Rushing Lightning is also known as Little Moccasin or Wakee-wata-keepee, the subject of a story written by Major Guido Ilges while serving as the Commander of the Fort Benton Montana Military Post. 15 3/8" by 17 1/2" framed, 6 1/2" by 8 1/2" unframed. No damage or repairs. Provenance: Closson Art Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Dr. George Nerish, DDS, acquired from the above, 1962 Gordon A. Ruschman, gifted from the above Thence by descent to present owner Henry Francois Farny (1847 - 1916) was active/lived in Ohio, California / France. Henry Farny is known for Indians, frontier life, illustrator, pottery decoration. Born in Alsace Lorraine, France, Henry Farny became a well-known American illustrator and painter, especially for quiet aspects of Indian life such as campfire scenes. Farny, working in a highly realistic, detailed style, had a deep regard for Indians as individuals, and often depicted them in an harmonious environment. Only a few of his paintings show Indians in dramatic action. He particularly painted the Sioux Indians and, given the Indian name for "Long Boots", was adopted into their tribe. His work reflected the late 19th and early turn-of-the century romanticizing of the American Indian in the West, but differed from the approach of Charles Russell and Frederic Remington who showed conflict between Indians and Whites. Farny's primary theme was Indians living in peace amongst themselves during a period when their culture was dying out. "He neither glorified nor denigrated it. . . .Because of his patient observation of the Indian way of life, much has been preserved which might otherwise have been lost." (Zellman 418) His most prolific period was between 1890 and 1906, and most of his paintings were small in size, and finely finished. His primary medium was gouache, although he also worked in watercolor, oil, and ink and did an occasional bronze sculpture. In addition to his artwork of western subjects, he was the illustrator of McGuffey readers, the school textbooks that were standard in the public schools in the late 19th century. As an adult in the prime of his career, he was a large man physically, over six feet tall, "broad shouldered, bulky in the waistline, an inveterate storyteller, renowned as an after-dinner speaker, a man with innumerable friends, alive with interest in life." (Taft 217). Among his close friends were General Ulysses S. Grant, President Theodore Roosevelt and General Nelson Miles, and abroad he was recognized in 1889 with a medal at the Paris exhibition of 1889 for one of his Indian subjects. Farny was the son of a political activist from France who, as a Republican, fled when Napoleon came to power. At age 5, he settled with his family in the pine forests of western Pennsylvania at the headwaters of the Allegheny River, and lived closely and on friendly terms with the Seneca Indians. In 1859, he and his family, traveling by raft down the river, moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Farny studied and did lithography including Civil War views that could be sold. By the time he was eighteen, a two-page spread of Cincinnati by him was published in Harper's Weekly. He lived in New York City for a short time in 1867, and earned illustration commissions from Harper's Weekly. He decided he needed more art education, and from 1867 to 1870, studied in Europe, at one time sharing a studio in Munich with John Twachtman and Frank Duveneck, who remained a life-long friend. He was also in Rome, Vienna, and Dusseldorf and to support himself, did many odd jobs for hire. In 1873, he returned to Europe, where at the Vienna Exposition he exhibited a 90-foot long cartoon, which he had created as a commission entry by the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce. He returned to illustration in Cincinnati, working for Cincinnati publishers and for Harper's Weekly and The Century, and from Cincinnati traveled widely in the West, making his first trip in 1888, traveling over a thousand miles by canoe on the Missouri River. His interest had been piqued in 1881 with the news that Sitting Bull had surrendered at Fort Buford in Sioux Territory on July 19, having wandered with tribesmen since 1876 when the Indians had defeated General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in South Dakota. Farny, hoping to see and talk to Sitting Bull, traveled to the Sioux agency at Standing Rock where the Indian Chief was first confined. However, by the time he arrived, Sitting Bull had been transferred to Fort Randall, but Farny found a wealth of Indian material for his sketches and subsequent paintings. His decision to focus on Indian subjects was made. He said: The plains, the buttes, the whole country and its people are fuller of material for the artist than any country in Europe." (Taft 219) In 1883, he journeyed to Montana with the Northern Pacific Railroad on the excursion sponsored by Henry Villard, President of the Railroad. The group with many dignitaries departed from St. Paul and as part of the trip witnessed the ceremony of the completion of the transcontinental line and the joining of the railway extensions near Missoula. The celebration included the cornerstone commemoration of the territorial capital of Bismarck, and at this event, Farny finally got to meet Sitting Bull, who came with a group of Indians from the Standing Rock Agency sixty miles away. Farny introduced Sitting Bull to General Ulysses Grant, and "the two eyed each other with respectful wonder." (Taft 221). Both gave speeches with Sitting Bull using an interpreter. After Bismarck, the group visited the Crow Reservation at Grey Cliff, Montana, and Farny made sketches which he converted into illustrations for Harper's Weekly. In 1884, Farny along with writer Eugene Smalley went back to Montana on assignment for The Century Magazine. They were hosted by a group of notables including the governor and then took a voyage down the Missouri River from Helena to Great Falls to Fort Benton---all depicted by Farny in the magazine article by Smalley. From Fort Benton, they took a 200 mile stagecoach ride to connect with the railroad at Billings. It is possible but unverified that Farny made other trips west to Indian territory, and there are sketches from the late 1880s indicating he went to California, but the details are unknown. Farny also did numerous Indian portraits for The Century Magazine to accompany a series written by Frank Cushing about his life among the Zuni of New Mexico when he was on assignment from the Smithsonian Institution. For these illustrations, Farny visited Cushing in Washington rather than in New Mexico because Cushing had brought about six Zuni head men with him to the nation's capital. In 1894, he traveled with General Miles to Fort Sill, Oklahoma where Apaches with Geronimo, Kiowa and Comanche Indians were on reservation. Farny did a portrait sketch of Geronimo, which the Indian chief signed. After 1890, Farny discontinued illustration for popular magazines, and concentrated on easel painting, using for props the many items he had collected from his western travels. "The accuracy and artist of his work combine to make him one of our major painters of the Old West." (Reed 54) The first painting he finished after his initial trip West was Toilers of the Plains, depicting two squaws gathering firewood while their overseer walked with dignity and free of burden. He also did a painting for the Paris Salon, The Sioux Women of the Burnt Plains, which stirred positive comment from Oscar Wilde, who was lecturing in Cincinnati. The total number of Farny's western paintings is unknown. The Cincinnati Museum in 1943 held an exhibition of his work that included 39 oil paintings and 104 watercolors. At least twenty-four of the oils and seventy-one of the watercolors were Western. For many viewers, work by Farny is admired for its authenticity and its ability to convey so much factual data about a critical time in America history---the opening of the West.
Housed in a batwing frame typical of the Western examples of Curtis and other early 20th century masters. Lithograph on paper, with oil applied over it, and plaque on frame. 13.5" x 18" (framed).
Henry F. Farny (American, 1847-1916) Rushing Lightning, Ogalalla Sioux, 1913 watercolor, gouache, and tempera on board signed Farny and dated (center right) 8 5/8 x 6 1/2 inches This lot is located in Chicago. Provenance: Closson Art Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Dr. George Nerish, DDS, acquired from the above, 1962 Gordon A. Ruschman, gifted from the above Thence by descent to present owner
Henry Francois Farny (Ohio, California / France, 1847 - 1916) Watercolor and Gouache on Paper with pencil under sketching. Signed and dated (1901) lower right. Depicting several Indians on horseback resting near a bonfire with a western landscape in the background. With tepees in the trees near the center right portion of the painting. Double-sided work with pencil sketch verso. Provenance: Important private American Art collection. Sight Size: 10.5 x 18.5 in. Overall Framed Size: 18.5 x 26 in. Framed behind glass.
Henry Francois Farny (1847 - 1916) 'Tablet Dance' at Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM chromolithograph from centerfold in an issue of Harper's Weekly Magazine accompanied with Letter of Authenticity
Henry Francois Farny (French-American, 1847-1916), "Boy's Tow Foraging Chap XIV", ink on stiff paper, signed lower right, illustration for Harper's Young People, Vol. XI, No. 558, printer's notes verso, loose and unframed, 11"h x 9.75"w
Portrait Of An American Plains Indian, Sanguine Watercolor And Pencil On Paper, Signed And Dated 1886 Left, Sheet 9.5 X 6.75 Inches, Frame 18 X 15.5 X 1 Inches, Chips To Sheet Edges, Paper Toned, Light Foxing Verso. See Photos For Additional Condition Information.
Henry Farny (French/American, 1847-1916) Moonlit Landscape gouache on board signed Farny (lower right) 2 x 7 inches Property from a Corporate Art Collection, Oklahoma Provenance: J.N. Bartfield Galleries, New York, New York Midwestern Galleries, Cincinnati, Ohio Henry Farny's family emigrated from France in 1848 and settled in Cincinnati, a burgeoning city that quickly became a nursery for important American artists. Native Americans fascinated Farny, but he often noted the disparity between their portrayals as fierce, tragic warriors, and their reality as casualties of American expansion. Still, the prospect of one day heading West to paint aroused his ambition to make his life in art. He apprenticed with a lithographer, drawing Civil War scenes that led to work with Harper's Weekly and a meeting with the American ambassador to Rome-a fellow Cincinnatian-led to studies in Europe. Farny studied in Rome, Dusseldorf, Munich, and Paris and returned to Cincinnati in 1870. In 1878, he ventured on a thousand-mile trip down the Missouri River, living among and painting the Blackfeet, Crow, Sioux, and Zuni Indians, observing their cultures and learning their languages. He became an ardent advocate for Indigenous Peoples. As his career and reputation flourished, his friends became a who's who of the late 19th century: Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Ulysses S. Grant. Geronimo, Sitting Bull, and Theodore Roosevelt, who was especially fond of the artist and supportive of his work. Moonlit Landscape is a lovely gem. It's a monochromatic nocturne, a landscape of light and shadow seen through trees that Corot might envy, light and shadow falling on water, coming to rest on a wooded mountain in the middle distance. Farny layers the grayscale tones and lets white create day in the deep mystery of night. The sliver of moon at upper right is a Farny trademark. This and other aspects of Moonlit Landscape appear throughout his work, especially in his beautiful, prized gouaches. -James D. Balestrieri
Henry Francois Farny French/American, 1847-1916 Ohio River Catfish Signed with initials HFF and with artist's device (lr) Oil on panel 16 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches Provenance: William T. Earls, Cincinnati, Ohio Parke-Bernet, New York, 17 Nov. 1966, lot 75 (as Fish) Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 30 May 1985, lot 93 Private collection Adelson Galleries, New York C
Henry F. Farny (1847-1916) Danger / A Study signed with initials and dated with the artist's dragonfly and circle devices 'H.F.F. / 92' (lower right) oil on canvas 22 x 40 in. framed 26 x 44 in.
Featured in this lot is a framed bronze plaque called "Indian Chief" circa 1984 from artist Henry Farny, He was born in 1847 and died in 1916. The sculpture shows a wonderfully and professionally crafted bronze construction featuring a Native American Chief's head. Tooled into the face of the bronze with great texturing to the Chief's face are lifelike features and a wavy horizontal texturing to the background of the bronze. The bronze is marked on the bottom edge of the plaque and reads as follows: "Indian Chief" by Henry Farny - 42/200; and is marked on the right edge of the bronze as follows: 1984 - Walt Wiggin's - Sante Fe Bronze. The bronze is numbered 42/200. Henry François Farny (15 July 1847, Ribeauvillé 23 December 1916) was an American painter and illustrator. His work was centered on the life of Native Americans in the 19th-century United States. The condition of this framed bronze plaque is good with a slight patina adorning the bronze but otherwise shows good overall condition. The measurements of this framed bronze plaque is 17 1/8" x 19 1/8" and the bronze plaque measures 6" x 8 3/8"*.
HENRY F. FARNY (1847-1916) Sage-Cock Shooting in Montana (Theodore Roosevelt 'Sage Grouse Shooting') gouache and watercolor on paper 14 x 23 1/2 in. (35.6 x 59.7 cm.)
HENRY FRANCOIS FARNY (AMERICAN, 1847-1916) Bronze, signed, dated 1999, and editioned 2/10 to backside. Tabletop bust of an older woman in headscarf. 5" height
Henry François Farny, attribution Portrait of a Young Woman oil on canvas 16 h × 13 w in (41 × 33 cm) Signed to lower left 'HF. M.'. This work is likely a copy of a painting by Jean-François Millet created by Henry François Farny. Provenance: Charles Egan Gallery, New York | Acquired from the previous in 1975 condition: Work is good condition with overall surface soiling. Minor hairline cracking throughout which appears to have been stabilized. Areas of inpainting visible under UV light primarily within background of composition throughout. Work presents well. Unframed.
Signed “FARNY” l.r. The custom period frame with an artist’s plaque, carved titles “SYLVESTER-NACHT/DER ENDERLE VON KETSCH” and carved lyric “Schon tanzte die alte Galeere vor Cyprus in funkeinder nacht.” The reverse with literature regarding the painting’s subject matter, artist, and provenance. Sight 9” x 6 1/2”, frame 16 1/2” x 14”
Henry Francois Farny (American, 1847-1916) Moving Camp, 1905 oil on board signed Farny and dated (lower right) 12 x 9 inches Provenance: Ellen Graydon Hill, Cincinnati, OH. By descent in the family to the present. Literature: Denny Carter. Henry Farny. New York: Watson Guptill Publications. 1978, p. 162, illustrated. Exhibitions: Indian Hill Historical Museum Association, 1975, Cincinnati, Ohio, number 41 Property of the Estate of Ellen Graydon Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio
Henry Francois Farny (American, 1847-1916) Deer Hunting, 1901 gouache on paper, affixed to board signed Farny and dated (lower right) 10 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches Provenance: Ellen Graydon Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio. By descent in the family to the present. Literature: Denny Carter. Henry Farny. New York: Watson Guptill Publications. 1978, p. 123, illustrated. Exhibitions: Indian Hill Historical Museum Association, 1975, Cincinnati, Ohio, number 49 Property of the Estate of Ellen Graydon Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio
Henry Farny - Native American Hunter. Gouache and watercolor on paper. Signed and dated 1902 LR. Frame size: H 17-1/4", W 14-3/16".Paper size approx H 11" W 8". Consigned directly from a member of the artist's family. First public offering.Outstanding original condition. Guaranteed authentic. Please refer to this link for high-res images. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ekfymi4pt7jjbf1/AACWoQExy41S6PcOB35ghfZla?dl=0
Lot 98 Henry Farny American (1847-1916) Untitled (Native American chief relief) bronze signed on bottom edge, numbered 45/200 5 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches Provenance: From a New York Collection
Henry F. Farny (1847-1916) Mountain Pass signed and dated '.H.F.Farny.//94' with artist's device (lower right) gouache on paper 161⁄4 x 101⁄4 in. (41.3 x 26 cm.) Executed in 1894.
Lot 22 Henry Farny American (1847-1916) Untitled (Native American on horseback) (1896) gouache on paper signed lower right 10 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches Provenance: From a New York Collection
HENRY FRANCOIS FARNY (American, 1847-1916) Mother and Child 1900, gouache signed and dated Farny 1900, l.r. sheet: 5 7/8 x 4 3/8 in., frame: 13 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.
**Originally Listed At $150** Henry Francois Farny, also H. F. Farny (French-American, 1847-1916). "The Nomads" - signed and dated 1902 on lower right. A framed, large-scale lithograph of Henry Farny's "The Nomads" depicting three Native Americans traveling through a snowy landscape - an armed male on horseback followed by another individual holding a child with two horses carrying bundles and an axe, accompanied by three dogs. In the distance is a hilly landscape with barren trees in the middlescape, and wintry cloudy skies above. Farny emigrated to the United States from France with his family in 1853. They lived in Warren, Pennsylvania near a Seneca reservation. In 1859, the family moved to Cincinnatti, Ohio and Farny became an illustrator for magazines like Harper's Weekly. He also studied with Albert Bierstadt at the Dusseldorf Academy from 1867 to 1870. In 1881, Farny traveled to the West, inspired by the demand for paintings of Native Americans, making sketches while traveling up the Missouri River. Size: 33.375" W x 17.75" H (84.8 cm x 45.1 cm); 43.125" W x 27.625" H (109.5 cm x 70.2 cm) framed. When he returned to Cincinnatti he stated, "The plains, the buttes, the whole country and its people are fuller of material for the artist than any country in Europe." Farny would create about 100 paintings inspired by his western sojourns of the 1880s. Later in life, Theodore Roosevelt told him, "Farny, the nation owes you a great debt. It does not realize it now but it will some day. You are preserving for future generations phases of American history that are rapidly passing away." (S.J. Clark (1912). Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume 2). Provenance: private Glorieta, New Mexico, USA collection All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #150670
Artist: Henry Farny | 1847-1916 Title: Pueblo of Zuni Bernice Isabel Saye inscribed on back of neck: Pueblo of Zuni Bernice Isabel Saye Farny 99 8/10 Media: Bronze Dimensions: 5 by 4 by 4 inches Condition: Very Good Condition details: The bronze piece is in very good condition with normal wear. With the unaided eye there are no apparent issues.
Artist: Henry Farny | 1847-1916 Title: Pueblo of Zuni Bernice Isabel Saye inscribed on back of neck: Pueblo of Zuni Bernice Isabel Saye Farny 99 8/10 Media: Bronze Dimensions: 5 by 4 by 4 inches Condition: Very Good Condition Details: The bronze piece is in very good condition with normal wear. With the unaided eye there are no apparent issues.
Farny, Henry (French–American, 1847–1916). Henry Farny ALS. Nd. The prominent American painter who was known for his work on Native American life, writes a one paragraph letter to an unidentified correspondent. Signed “Henry Farny.” 8 x 5”. Margins gently toned, else fine. Rare.
