Cigar Store Pocahontas c. 1939

This drawing of Pocahontas was made by Mary E. Humes, though we don’t know exactly when. The colours are muted, like it’s been sitting in the sun for a while, which gives it a melancholic feel. There’s something about the process of rendering that feels very direct and open, like the artist is figuring it out as she goes along. What strikes me is the way the colours are blocked in, especially in the folds of her robe. The blue-grey is so flat, but then you see these little hatching marks that give it depth, and you sense the artist's hand at work. The red trim has this wonderful irregularity to it, like a hand-stitched border. Look at the object in her hand, it’s almost cartoonish, like a heart or a small apple. The whole thing feels like a memory, a faded snapshot of an idea about Pocahontas. It reminds me of some of the early American folk art, where the artists were just figuring out how to represent the world around them. It’s art as conversation, always in process, always open to new interpretations.