Rail Shooting

Rail Shooting is one of a series of duck hunting images that William Tylee Ranney set in the New Jersey marshes not far from his studio in West Hoboken. The work shows a moment of suspended action, as the sportsman, his back to the viewer, fires at a bird that begins its drop to earth in the distance. This action is downplayed, however, to focus interest on the attentive expression of the gray-haired servant, wearing a patched coat, who steadies the shallow boat with his pole. The contrast between the two men in roles, dress, and activity highlights a subtle tension of social difference. Between them, two bird dogs and a boy gaze intently toward the distant prey. While the diagonals of the pole, the boat, and the raised gun all direct attention to the bird in the left distance, the light and dark shadows on the marsh grasses surrounding the boat guide the viewer’s attention to the foreground.

Having made his reputation with scenes from American history and images of life on the Western frontier, Ranney turned to the depiction of rural sport in the 1850s. He was one of the first American artists to specialize in such themes, which capitalized on the growth of recreational hunting and similar pursuits in mid-nineteenth-century America. Ranney began Rail Shooting in 1856 but it was unfinished at his death two years later. At the request of the artist’s widow, a friend of the artist, genre painter William Sidney Mount, completed the work, perhaps for the memorial exhibition and sale held at the National Academy in 1858 in aid of Ranney’s indigent family. In his images of rural Long Island character types and situations, Mount often depicted figures of contrasting ages, genders, and races to highlight themes of social exclusion. The sympathetic individuality of the servant in Rail Shooting, as well as the less robust nature of his form, are typical of Mount’s treatment, suggesting this figure is largely his work.

Harry Shaw Newman Gallery, New York, April 1942, no. 19.

Nineteenth Century Genre Painting from The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, November 15, 1985–January 12, 1986.

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Life in 19th Century America, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 24–September 6, 1987.

William Tylee Ranney East of the Mississippi, Brandywine River Museum of the Brandywine Conservancy, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania (organizer). Venue: Brandywine River Museum of the Brandywine Conservancy, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, September 7–November 24, 1991. [exh. cat.]

Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1996–January 12, 1997.

Rivières et rivages: les artistes américains, 1850–1900 (Waves and Waterways: American Perspectives, 1850–1900), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2000. [exh. cat.]

American Classics: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 26–September 1, 2002.

Copley to Cassatt: Masterworks from the Terra Collection, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut and Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, September 5–December 7, 2003.

Expanded Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, April 15, 2005–April 24, 2006.

Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming (organizer). Venues: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, May 12–August 14, 2006; The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, September 29, 2006–January 1, 2007; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, February 10–May 13, 2007; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 23–August 26, 2007. [exh. cat.]

Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection,The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, September 2007–present.

"Americans to 1875." Art Digest (April 15, 1942): 18. Text p. 18; ill. p. 18.

Grubar, Francis. William Ranney: Painter of the Early West. (exh. cat., The Corcoran Gallery of Art). Washington, D.C.: The Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1962. No. 85, p. 45.

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-19, p. 128 (color).

Thistlewaite, Mark. William Tylee Ranney East of the Mississippi. (exh. cat., Brandywine River Museum). Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania: Brandywine River Museum, 1991. Text pp. 35, 82 (checklist); ill. p. 34 (black & white).

Luhrs, Kathleen, ed. Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney with a Catalogue of his Works. (exh, cat. Buffalo Bill Historical Center). Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2006. Text pp. 167–168; ill. p. 169 (color).

Neset, Arne. Arcadian Waters and Wanton Seas: The Iconology of Waterscapes in Nineteenth-Century Transatlantic Culture. New York, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2009. Text p. 147; Ill. p. 148 (black & white).