José Cisneros "U.S. Army Buffalo Soldier c. 1870" Signed Pen & Ink Print, 1982 View Watchlist >
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Lot # F389
System ID # 29078930
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José Cisneros "U.S. Army Buffalo Soldier c. 1870" Signed Pen & Ink Print, 1982
Pen and ink print by José Cisneros (1910–2009), the celebrated El Paso borderland illustrator known for his meticulous historical depictions of horsemen of the region. The composition captures a 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldier mid-gallop, sidearm raised, his mount lunging through a landscape of sotol and desert scrub. Cisneros's signature crosshatching renders every detail — the cavalry tack, the carbine boot, the soldier's neckerchief and campaign hat — with the precision of a working historian. Plate signed and dated "J. Cisneros El Paso '82" at lower right, with a separate pencil signature beneath in the artist's hand. Titled in script below the image: U.S. Army "Buffalo Soldier" — c. 1870.
Cisneros spent seven decades documenting the riders of the Spanish colonial, Mexican, and American frontier from his studio in El Paso, just down the river from the Buffalo Soldier garrisons at Fort Bliss and Fort Davis. His work is held by the Library of Congress, the El Paso Museum of Art, and the University of Texas at El Paso, where the Centennial Museum maintains a permanent Cisneros gallery. Presented in an oak frame with deep burgundy mat under glass — a regionally significant work tied directly to the borderland history Cisneros made his life's subject.
History
The Buffalo Soldiers — the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments formed in 1866 — served extensively across the New Mexico and West Texas frontier through the 1870s and 1880s, patrolling from Fort Bayard, Fort Selden, Fort Stanton, and Fort Davis. Cisneros, working a century later from El Paso, drew the borderland's mounted soldiers with the authority of someone who had walked the ground and studied the regimental records firsthand.
CONDITION
Very Good. Paper is clean and bright with no visible foxing or toning through the glass. Pencil signature is crisp and legible. Oak frame shows minor handling wear at the edges; mat and glazing present well.
DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS
- Frame Overall: 23 3/8" H × 17 7/8" W × 1" D
- Visible Image: 16 1/2" H × 11" W
- Medium: Pen and ink print on cream wove paper
- Plate Signed & Dated: J. Cisneros El Paso '82 (lower right)
- Pencil Signed: José Cisneros (below plate signature)
- Title: U.S. Army "Buffalo Soldier" — c. 1870
- Presentation: Oak frame, burgundy mat, under glass
