Navajo Trackers 1926

Charles M. Russell painted "Navajo Trackers" in 1926, and it’s full of loose, washy strokes, like he’s letting the watercolor find its own way. Look at the dry desert landscape, all rendered with thin, transparent washes of brown and ochre. The paint isn’t trying to hide itself here, you can see every brushstroke that builds up the image. Russell seems to be saying that painting is about movement, about the act of seeing and responding. I'm drawn to the way the horses and riders blend into the landscape. It’s almost as if the artist wanted to show the trackers as one with nature. Their colors are muted, echoing the palette of the desert itself. It reminds me a bit of Frederic Remington, another artist who was interested in depicting the American West, but Russell has a looser, more painterly style. Ultimately, Russell's work celebrates the open-endedness of art and life, inviting us to embrace the uncertainties and possibilities that lie ahead.