Henry Farny (French/American 1847-1916) Copper Plaque Dated 1881

Item Details

Henry F. Farny (American 1847-1916)
Untitled, 1881
Copper
Initialed and dated to lower right

A copper plaque illustrating a profile portrait by Henry F. Farny (American (French/American, 1847 – 1916), dated 1881.

Henry Farny was born in Alsace Lorraine, France, the son of a political activist who fled France when Napoleon came to power. In 1859 his family traveled from Pennsylvania, where they lived closely with the Seneca Indians, by raft on the Ohio river settling in Cincinnati, Ohio. Farny initially studied lithography but then decided he needed more art education and studied in Europe from 1867 to 1870, at one time sharing a studio in Munich with John Twachtman and Frank Duveneck (a life-long friend). He is renown for his work romanticizing the American West and the various Indian tribes living in peace as their culture was dying out. Farny’s paintings are credited with preserving the Indian way of life which would have been otherwise lost. He traveled throughout his life and career throughout both Europe and the West to include a 1000 mile trip by canoe on the Missouri River in 1888.
He included among his close friends General Ulysses S. Grant, President Theodore Roosevelt and General Nelson Miles and while abroad in 1889 he received a medal at the Paris exhibition for one of his paintings illustrating American Indians. Henry Farny’s work can be found in both prestigious private collections as well as several Museums including the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Condition

- loss to the gilt finish on the frame

Dimensions

- measurements refer to the framed piece, the medal is 6.00" in diameter

Item #

18DCC800-079