[Study for Westward Ho!" showing figures with wagon train from "Westward the course of empire takes its way"]" – Antique Print
![[Study for Westward Ho!" showing figures with wagon train from "Westward the course of empire takes its way"]", [1861?] — historic drawing](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/7f/7f7d9f127fbf-L.webp)
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare historic drawing captures [Study for Westward Ho!" showing figures with wagon train from "Westward the course of empire takes its way"]" in remarkable detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
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[Study for Westward Ho!" showing figures with wagon train from "Westward the course of empire takes its way"]"
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This sheet is a graphite and wash study for the wagon train and figures in the right-hand section of Emanuel Leutze's large mural *Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way*, which was painted for the U.S. Capitol in the early 1860s. The inscription identifies it as part of a cartoon for the work, a full-scale preparatory drawing used to plan the composition before painting. Leutze's mural celebrates westward expansion as national destiny, and its pioneers, with their oxen, wagons and rugged settlers, reflect the optimism and the contested politics of the years just before the Civil War. Studies like this one show how the artist worked out the poses and groupings of his travelers.
| Created / published | [1861?] |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 drawing : graphite and wash. |
| Genre | Ida Leutze Wheeler." |
| Notes | Title devised by Library staff. Inscribed: Part of cartoon of Westward Ho" Capitol of Washington D.C. drawn by E. Leutze |
| Subjects | Westward movement--1860-1870. Transcontinental journeys--1860-1870. Wagon trains--1860-1870. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 7,456 × 8,831 px · prints to 25 × 29 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | 03115u Study for Westward Ho |
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