Artist: Ossip Perelma (1876–1949)
Walter Farwell
FARWELL, WALTER (1863–1943), inducted between 1920–1949, painting dated 1913
One of the oldest paintings remaining in the Saddle & Sirloin Portrait Collection, this portrait of Walter Farwell was painted in 1913 and then given to the collection sometime after the 1934 fire and before the printing of the 1948 inventory. It is the only pastel in the gallery. Charles B. and John V. Farwell, Walter’s father and uncle, launched one of the largest wholesale dry goods companies in the world: JV Farwell & Company, Chicago. Walter served as the company vice president. In 1882, a three-million-acre tract in the Texas Panhandle was given to the elder Farwells and their investment partners by the state of Texas, to compensate them for building the State Capitol in Austin. Walter Farwell became managing director of this XIT Ranch, moving to Texas in 1906. At the time, XIT was the largest fenced ranch in the world, with 6,000 miles of fence and an estimated 150,000 head of cattle. Walter, an ardent polo player, introduced the sport to the ranch and bred many fine polo ponies there.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 87