264 The Advance Scouts

Category Art
Auction Currency USD
Start Price 125,000.00 USD
Estimated at 250,000.00 - 350,000.00 USD
The Advance Scouts
Artist: Berninghaus, OscarDate of Birth: 1874-1952
Medium: Oil on canvas mounted on board
Dimensions: 40 x 30 inches
Signed: Signed lower right
Verso:

Two warriors pick their way through the desert. They are the advance scouts. The fate of the party behind them depends on their senses, especially their sixth sense, the one that tells them something isn’t right up ahead, that tells them the way holds perils, even before the other five kick in. They are quiet, cautious, even anxious men, made lean with the need to see what others cannot, to anticipate what others do not. They also have to listen to their horses, whose own five senses can convey impressions before the scouts’ sixth sense begins to tingle. The chestnut horse, dropping his head, seems to be feeling something, saying something. His eyes, rather than following his head, are wide open, looking up from under, out ahead of them. Beside him, the paint horse seems to be about to pull up. He, too, senses something. Here’s the rub. Berninghaus paints them on a beautiful, wide desert plain with mountains off to their right. The sun is high, as are the billowing puffy clouds. But this beautiful day leaves the advance scouts out in the open, without any real cover—the low scrub and cactus won’t do them any good. Where is their party? How far behind are they? Has anyone flanked them on some hidden path through the mountains? Should they split up? Should they slow down, stop, take stock, get the horses down on the sand, lay down beside them, throw robes over all, blend in, wait? Their decision may well spell the difference between life and death.