Signed and dated oil on canvas depicting a mounted cowboy on horseback. Executed in 1917, the work captures a quiet moment of Western life, a subject that remained central to Johnson’s career.

Among the foremost painters of the American West, Johnson studied at the Art Students League of New York under Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase before traveling throughout the West on assignment for Field & Stream magazine and later illustrating the novels of Zane Grey. Painted during the years in which his reputation as a Western artist was firmly established, Cowboy and Horse reflects Johnson’s authentic portrayal of Western life and helped define the enduring image of the American cowboy in early twentieth-century art.

The reverse bears period inscriptions identifying the artist, title, dimensions, and date, together with an original Salmagundi Club auction label. Accompanying correspondence exchanged in 1983 between the owner, Peter H. Hassrick, Director of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, and Lois Ash, a relative of the artist, confirms that these materials are consistent with Johnson’s documented sales history and provides important supporting evidence for the painting’s authenticity. Also included is the original Cowie Galleries sales receipt dated February 13, 1951, documenting its purchase as Cowboy & Horse.

Dimensions: 16 x 12 in.; framed 23.25 x 19.25 in.

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Professionally conserved by the Balboa Art Conservation Center, San Diego, in 1996. Treatment included consolidation of raised cracking, removal of surface grime and discolored varnish, reduction of minor planar distortions, application of a new protective varnish, installation of an archival backing, and conservation of the period frame, including consolidation of minor gesso losses, cleaning, and inpainting. Presents well following conservation.