Cigar Store Indian c. 1937

Walter Hochstrasser painted this rendering of a Cigar Store Indian; the painting is all careful observation, a desire to capture the objectness of the figure. I wonder what it was like for Hochstrasser, born in 1855, to make this. What was his own experience of that complicated history? I imagine him, brush in hand, trying to work through those contradictions, using color and line to understand something about the object, about America, about himself. Look how he renders the feathers in red, yellow, and green – those colors pop against the figure’s dark skin. The paint isn’t thick, but it’s precise, each stroke deliberate. Look at the hands; the gesture seems to say, "Here, take this," or maybe, "Wait, stop." There's a push and pull here, between admiration, commerce, and maybe even regret.