Frederic Remington based this painting on an actual event in Texas history. During an expedition to take control of the Mexican town of Mier in 1843, Texan soldiers were imprisoned by the Mexican Army and subjected to a life or death lottery. The drawing of the black bean involved soldiers drawing out of a jar a white or black bean to determine their fates: life in prison or execution. The unfortunate seventeen soldiers who drew black beans were executed. Remington´s vision of a heroic Western past inspired him to paint popular subjects like this story of the fight for survival in the days of the early Texas Republic. Born in 1861 in upstate New York, Remington made frequent trips throughout the Southwest to record Western culture. The artist´s success as a magazine illustrator in New York in the mid 1880s was largely due to his reputation as an authority on the American West.
Explore the Details
Choose a detail to learn more.
Background: The Mier Expedition
Texas President Sam Houston´s victory in the 1836 battle of San Jacinto won Texas´ independence from Mexico, but it did not settle the border dispute over Mexican and Texan territory. In 1843, Texan soldiers lost control of the Mexican town of Mier and were captured and imprisoned by the Mexican Army. Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna ordered the execution of one in every ten of the captured soldiers. Their fate was decided by drawing a black bean, signifying execution, or a white bean, sentencing the man to life in prison.
Fifty-three years later, Frederic Remington painted his version of this historical event.
Drawing the Bean
Remington was familiar with the story of the Mier Expedition. He most likely heard oral accounts from survivors and studied the soldiers´ published journals. He knew that the Texans had escaped from a Mexican prison and survived days of dehydration in the harsh desert south of the Rio Grande River only to be captured by the Mexican cavalry and subjected to the black bean lottery. In this painting, Remington portrays the moment a bearded soldier reaches in the jar for a bean, while being watched by both Mexican soldiers and his Texan comrades.
Describe the clothing and facial expression of the soldier drawing the bean. Determine how his expression and demeanor, combined with the story of the Mier Expedition, give clues about this man´s character.
Creating Drama
Strong diagonal lines of the roofline, windows, and stone pavement lead the viewer´s eye to the action in the center of the painting. Remington also created contrast between sunlight and dark shadow, which intensifies the drama of the moment and leads the eye to the middle of the painting. Instead of emphasizing dramatic human expression or rendering figures in movement, Remington uses the structure and composition of the painting to convey the tension of the event.
If Remington had painted the hacienda plaza in full sunlight, rather than placing the soldier drawing the bean in shadow, how would that change the mood of the scene?
Artist as Storyteller - A Secondary Report on a Historical Event
Remington learned about the Mier Expedition from its survivors and by reading accounts such as General Thomas Green´s Journal of the Texian Expedition against Mier (1845).* Remington selectively chose to include details that interested or satisfied him as an artist, and changed other details to suit his vision for the final painting.
Certain details, for example, such as the handkerchief surrounding the rim of the jar of beans, are authentic and true to the first-hand accounts of the story. However, while Remington knew that in actuality handcuffed prisoners approached the jar two by two, he decided to eliminate those details, focusing instead on a single soldier´s "choice." Remington also omitted the Mexican scribe that recorded the names of each Texas prisoner and the color of the bean they selected. For his picture, he painted a table to hold the jar instead of the bench that was used during the actual episode.
Consider the choices Remington made as a secondary reporter of this historical event. How do the artist´s choices change the way you think of the painting?
*See the handout section of the lesson for an excerpt of this journal
The Sides of the Battle for Texas
Remington depicts the long line of prisoners waiting for their turn to draw a bean. He rendered every soldier´s eyes fixed on the small gesture of the man drawing the bean.
Remington also arranges Mexican figures closely surrounding the prisoners. Although General Santa Anna offered the drawing of the bean as an act to spare the lives of most of the Texan soldiers, Remington wanted his painting to emphasize Texans´ sacrifice and reinforce the perception of Mexican brutality.
The Artist as a "Reporter"
Notice how Remington´s brush marks on the stone pavement appear to be applied quickly. Remington´s rapid brushwork gives a sense of immediacy and the impression that the artist is on the spot painting, bringing to mind, for example, the way a photographer records news event today.
Color Choices: Remington´s Limited Palette
Remington uses few colors, or a limited palette, to convey this setting in northern Mexico. His paint colors include reddish brown, gray, white, and a small amount of blue, lavender and red. To suggest a dry and hot climate, the artist mutes these colors by mixing them with black or white.
An Illustrated Article in Harper´s Monthly Magazine
Remington was compelled by the drama of the American West and the heroic stories of the early Texas Rangers, several of whom participated in the Mier Expedition. This painting was one seven pictures that illustrated an article Remington wrote in the December 1896 issue of Harper´s Monthly, titled "How the Law Got into the Chaparral." The article explains that the Colt revolver and the Texas Rangers brought civilization to the American southwest.
Image Courtesy of Cornell University Library, Making of America Digital Collection
Thinking about Artistic Choices
Infrared photography reveals Remington´s under drawing and suggests that the artist initially drew the left hand of this guard hovering near the holster of his gun. If Remington had not changed the position of the guard´s hand, how do you think that would have changed the mood of the scene?