Wolfgang Brassat, Bamberg: Die Rückkehr des Bronco Buster ins Oval Office. Frederic Remingtons Skulptur als Symbol der Politik Donald Trumps

In the organizer's words:

The starting point of the lecture is the sculpture Bronco Buster by Frederic Remington - more precisely the one that was donated to the White House under President Richard Nixon. It had been in the Oval Office since Jimmy Carter's time in office, but was removed under President Joe Biden and replaced by a bust of Martin Luther King. Donald Trump subsequently returned the sculpture.

The lecture sheds light on the history of the Bronco Buster in the context of the Gilded Age and the Spanish-American War, during which Remington worked as a war correspondent in Cuba. His famous history painting of the victory of the Rough Riders led by Teddy Roosevelt on San Juan Hill will also be discussed.

It also traces the history of the sculpture's reception, which can be read as an expression of aggressive nationalism. With its return to the Oval Office under Donald Trump, it ultimately became a symbol of his political agenda.