William Tylee Ranney 1813 - 1857

(possibly) sold: National Academy of Design, New York, The Ranney Fund Exhibition and Sale, December 1858, no. 166
(possibly) George Washington Riggs, Washington, D.C. (acquired at the above sale)
Daniel Riskin
Mongerson-Wunderlich Galleries, Chicago, Illinois
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Hugh and Gay Eaton Collection, Aspen CO, acquired from the above in 1995

Cody, Wyoming, Buffalo Bill Historical Center; Louisville, Kentucky, Speed Art Museum; Fort Worth, Texas, Amon Carter Museum; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Forging an American Identity: The Art of William Ranney, with a Catalogue Raisonné, no. 142, p. 176-77, illustrated in color

Francis S. Grubar, William Ranney: Painter of the Early West, New York, 1962, p. 59
Antiques Magazine, vol. 139, March 1991, illustrated in color p. 492

Born in Middletown, Connecticut in 1813, William Ranney spent time in North Carolina, studied art in New York and fought in the Texas army in its war for independence from Mexico before ultimately settling in northern New Jersey, where he established his studio. Though he only visited the western frontier on one occasion, Ranney “was so charmed with everything he saw; scenes that he long dreamt of were now before his eyes; the wild enchanting prairies, the splendid horses, nature in all her splendor” that he adopted images of western migration as his primary subject matter (Henry Tuckerman, American Frontier Life: Early Western Painting and Prints, New York, 1987, p.80). He decorated his studio with artifacts collected in the west, including pistols, saddles, and riding gear, which, along with his memories and imagination, inspired his pictures. Unlike many painters of the American West, Ranney rarely depicted Native Americans in his compositions and instead focused on white settlers, who were responsible for bringing civilization to the unchartered lands. He represented entire families and placed specific emphasis on women in order to convey an image of ideal American society on the frontier.

Waiting for the Ferry is a final preparatory oil sketch for a larger painting, which Ranney was likely executing at the time of his death in 1857. This well composed study delivers a complete narrative of an emigrant family, a husband and wife with their children, domestic animals and covered wagon, as they begin the long and arduous journey westward. They converse with a frontiersman, clad in a fur cap, buckskin leggings and holding a rifle, while they wait for a ferry to transport them across the river. The idyllic landscape, calm water and lush green trees set below a creamy sky infused with soft clouds, was likely inspired by views near Ranney’s childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Waiting for the Ferry can be viewed within the context of the artist’s genre scenes, many of which capture the sense of anxiety that must have been felt as families left behind the securities of home for the unfamiliar and unpredictable. Despite this uncertainty, Ranney imbues the scene with a sense of optimism and hope for the family’s journey ahead with his soft palette and use of warm light that infuses the composition.