|
"Painting this piece meant
a lot to me. It is my tribute to all those who have given their
lives for this country, whether they are or were military or
not, and to all those who have risked their lives to serve and
protect us as police, firemen or emergency medical personnel
- as well as a tribute by the soldiers in the painting to their
fallen comrades. It is a western genre painting because that's
how I best express myself. The cavalrymen are in the 1880's uniforms
appropriate to the western frontier. The flag is one that was
carried by the cavalry and is actually a guidon, not the United
States flag of that period, so it has alternating red & white
stripe and the blue field of stars, but the stars are gold instead
of white. I felt it was more appropriate historically for this
time period, and yet still has the impact of the traditional
Red, White and Blue. The soldiers would probably be from two
different companies, as their horses are not the same color.
I'm sure there were exceptions, but usually horses were distributed
to individual companies according to their color. The soldier
closest to the viewer is a first sergeant, represented by the
rank chevron on his arm, as well as the yellow stripe down his
pantsleg. The soldier bearing the flag has a corporal's chevron."
- Martin Grelle |