Cigar Store Indian c. 1936

Walter Hochstrasser made this ‘Cigar Store Indian’ painting using watercolor and graphite. I'm really drawn to how Hochstrasser approached this. The medium allows for the depiction of texture through these thin transparent layers, but there’s also a real flatness to it, like a poster. The color palette is pretty limited. Mostly, it’s about the interplay between the blacks and reds, and then these little hints of gold. Look at the rendering of the feather headdress! The feathers have this incredible graphic quality, but then they also appear to be rendered with a lot of attention to detail. The colors are laid down with such care, and the overall effect is mesmerizing. It’s like Hochstrasser is asking us to really look, and to really feel. This piece reminds me a little of some of the work of Florine Stettheimer, who also had a real talent for flattening space and using color in unexpected ways. Art is just one big conversation, isn't it?