Life on the Prairie: The Buffalo Hunt

Arthur F. Tait's lifelong interest in animals, hunting, and fishing harks back to his youth on a family farm in northwest England. Mainly self-taught as an artist, he learned to draw and paint by copying illustrated art manuals and reproducing lithographs. Although he had a few drawing and teaching jobs, the limited opportunities in his homeland prompted him to emigrate to the New York in 1850. Shortly thereafter, Tait became a leading painter of camp life, wild animals, hunting and fishing scenes --based on his annual summers in the Adirondack Mountains.

Although he never visited the American West, he was inspired by the art of George Catlin and Karl Bodmer, among others. In 1852, Tait collaborated with Louis Maurer on a lithograph series of western subjects for Nathaniel Currier, who eventually commissioned Tait alone to provide pictures of animals in rural and wilderness settings. The great popularity of these lithographs boosted Tait's reputation as an artist, leading to additional prints published by Currier & Ives, including this one, which capitalized on the public's appetite for images of rugged frontier life. This lithograph captures the excitement of hunting wild buffalo as two horsemen close in on their prey. At left, the man on a white horse has just shot his rifle at the huge beast as it races by. His partner, wearing a buckskin suit and a red turban, avoids the buffalo's horns as he gallops by; holding his rifle aloft, the horseman goads the buffalo to run until overcome by exhaustion. In the background, the prairie is dotted with buffalo; at left, a third hunter chases another buffalo. This print exemplifies Tait's skill in vividly rendering naturalistic detail and visual storytelling.



Nathaniel Currier, whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced more than 7,000 hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907.