1904 Polo

After viewing a polo game in 1904 Frederic Remington had an idea to do a sculpture of the game in his sculpture Polo. It was in the same year, 1904 that Remington decided to proceed full speed ahead doing a subject that was outside his usual line, which consisted of the military and Western frontier. Remington not only knew these subjects but he also believed himself an expert in horse racing, horse shows, and of polo matches. From Remington’s perspective a hard-hitting polo match was what a battle should be like. It had all the elements of close combat, horsemanship and skill, self-sacrifice and courage, risk and danger with out the intention of bloodshed.
Certainly Remington had put a great amount of calculation into the sculpture because; there was not even one hoof on the ground. Remington was one of few in his time that truly mastered the technical art skill of levitation. The structure of the pyramid was carefully thought out. When turned to one side the casting reflects a shape of that of an almost perfect pyramid, with the riders head at the apex of the shape.
This sculpture only took a matter of weeks from the start until it was ready to be shipped to the foundry, Roman Bronze Works. When the casting was complete it more than met Remington’s expectations. Nevertheless, it was a series of only two lifetime castings.