Nothing But Cheerful Looks Followed the Bat

Remington's 'Nothing But Cheerful Looks Followed the Bat' (1900) is another canvas from the series depicting scenes of frontier social life drawn from literary or journalistic sources about the Old West. The title suggests a scene of improvised frontier celebration or camaraderie — the bat presumably a makeshift percussion instrument. Remington had an ethnographic as well as dramatic interest in the social life of soldiers, cowboys, and Native Americans, and this lighter subject shows his range beyond pure conflict imagery. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this alongside the other works from the related series.

The scene is rendered with Remington's typical direct, illustrative technique — figures with solid physical presence, clearly legible gestures and expressions, and a warm artificial lighting suggesting interior or firelit setting. His compositional instincts from a career in illustration give the scene clarity and narrative readability without sacrificing painterly quality.