Frame: 123.2 x 85.1 x 7.6cm (48 1/2 x 33 1/2 x 3")
Type:
Painting
Date:
1884
Exhibition Label:
Born Albany, New York
During his prolific writing career, Bret Harte helped to invent the literary myth of the “Wild West,” with its colorful cast of gamblers, prospectors, and saloon keepers. Harte was at the forefront of the regionalist trend in American literature, which aimed to capture the distinctive dialects, customs, and terrains of specific regions of the United States. His vivid evocation of the rugged lifestyle of California’s mining camps fascinated readers who had never ventured west. Stories such as “The Luck of Roaring Camp” (1868) and “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” (1869) brought him international fame.
After relocating to the East Coast in 1871, Harte’s literary career flagged. He eventually settled in London, where he continued to publish tales of gold rush-era California. Writing to his British literary agent in 1893, Harte recalled how the Scottish artist John Pettie had struggled with his “unaccommodating features and evasive expression” while painting this portrait.
Nacido en Albany, Nueva York
El prolífico escritor Bret Harte contribuyó a la invención del mito literario del “salvaje Oeste” con un animado elenco de apostadores, buscadores de oro y cantineros. Harte estuvo a la vanguardia de la tendencia regionalista en la literature estadounidense, que aspiraba a captar los dialectos, costumbres y terrenos distintivos de regiones específicas. Sus elocuentes evocaciones de la vida dura en los campamentos mineros de California fascinaron a lectores que nunca habían llegado al oeste. Historias como “La suerte de Roaring Camp” (1868) y “Los marginados de Poker Flat” (1869) le ganaron fama mundial.
Tras radicarse en la costa este del país en 1871, la carrera de Harte decayó. Luego vivió en Londres, donde siguió publicando cuentos sobre la fiebre del oro en California. En una carta de 1893 a su agente literario británico, recordó que el artista escocés John Pettie había pasado dificultades con sus “facciones poco amables y su expresión evasiva” mientras pintaba este retrato.
Provenance:
“Mme. Van de Velde”; (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); purchased 1969 NPG.
Topic:
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache Search this
