The Triumph of Mischief 2007

Kent Monkman created “The Triumph of Mischief,” a large-scale painting that looks like it was made with traditional oil paints, brushes, and canvas, but I bet there’s a lot more to it. The painting has these massive mountain ranges. They give a sense of this vast space, and then in the foreground there are all these figures, mostly Indigenous people and some Europeans, and things are HAPPENING. Like a movie set, it’s full of gesture and movement. I can almost feel the artist figuring things out, rubbing it in, and wiping it away. I wonder what Monkman was thinking about as he worked on this piece. It feels like he’s taking history painting, landscape painting, and adding his own twist. I’m feeling a bit of Church and Bierstadt here – grandiose mountain scenes. Artists have always riffed off each other. It’s how we figure things out. So many of us are working with art history and trying to see the world in a new light.