11/04/2026
Charles Schreyvogel (1861-1912) artworks depicting the United States Cavalry on the Great Plains.
In 1991 magazine article, ‘How The West Was Spun,’ Robert Hughes noted wryly that many of Schreyvogel’s “authentic” Western artworks were actually painted at the artist’s studio in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Schreyvogel made brief summer trips out West to sketch, talk to veterans, and collect military gear, but the actual canvas work happened at his home on 1236 Garden Street in Hoboken. He set up a makeshift studio on the rooftop to capture natural outdoor light.
His models, who were often friends or local characters, wore authentic U.S. Cavalry uniforms and posed on top of wooden horses against the backdrop of New Jersey skies. The dust storms, galloping charges, and life-or-death skirmishes of the Great Plains were all staged within view of the Hudson River.
National myths such as those depicted by Schreyvogel, Re*****on, and Russell represent one version of the truth rather than a definitive truth. They reflect the way in which late-19th and early-20th century America viewed the West, the recently ended Indian Wars, and the official end of the frontier era.
