On the Warpath 1895

Editor: This is Charles M. Russell's "On the Warpath," painted in 1895, using oil on canvas. The stark landscape almost makes you feel the heat radiating off the canvas. What does this work say to you? Curator: Well, considering the context, the oil paint itself becomes a fascinating artifact. What kind of pigments were used, and where were they sourced? Analyzing the material production can tell us much about Russell's access to resources and his place in the art market of his time. The canvas, too—what kind of weave is it? Where was it likely produced? Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered! I was more focused on the Native American figures depicted and their historical representation. Curator: Precisely! The romanticism with which Russell depicts this "warpath" becomes more pointed when considering the reality of indigenous people dispossessed of their land. Were the artist using commercially produced pigments to convey this kind of scenery or did he produce his own from available, local materials? How does that production then speak about the colonial situation that displaced these communities? The very act of painting, the materials chosen, positions Russell and his audience within this complex historical moment. Editor: So, you are saying the materials used in its creation are in dialogue with the historical representation? Curator: Exactly! It makes you consider how Russell benefitted, both materially and socially, from depicting these figures and the West as this wild, untamed place ready for conquest. The artwork is then a complex artifact—testimony, material witness, and product all at once. Editor: Wow, that shifts my perspective quite a bit! It's more than just the scene; it's about the entire process that brought it into being. Curator: Indeed. By investigating those processes we can examine this piece as evidence, beyond the picture, into social histories of labor and extraction in turn of the century America. Editor: Thanks, this definitely adds another layer to my understanding of "On the Warpath." I'll be sure to dig into those material aspects.