Cigar Store Indian c. 1936

Bisby Finley painted this Cigar Store Indian, but we don't know when, or even why. The painting feels like a record of something, a found object perhaps, lovingly captured in paint. Look at how the red-brown of the figure is offset by those little pops of green and gold – the feathers, the rose, the waistband – they all sing out! I wonder if Finley labored over the decision to paint this figure. Did they struggle to capture the essence of the original sculpture? Or were they simply compelled to paint, driven by some strange fascination? What was Finley thinking as they painted the cylinders that the figure carries in their arms? These repeated lines suggest that the sculpture might have been carved with an axe, or some other coarse tool, leaving marks on the wood’s surface. These are the types of observations that come from close looking, from the hand meeting the eye!