Cigar Store Indian c. 1937

This is Albert Ryder's 'Cigar Store Indian', likely from the mid-20th century, painted in watercolor. It’s a small thing, yet it holds such gravity. I’m picturing Ryder at work, patiently layering the washes, coaxing out the muted palette of ochre, teal, and rust. Ryder is engaging with the history of American painting and sign painting. These figures stood outside cigar stores advertising what they sold. This artwork plays with flatness and depth. The Native American figure almost feels like she is cut from paper. I wonder if Ryder was thinking about how he could push the figure between 2D and 3D. It's easy to imagine that Ryder was thinking about how our collective cultural history might affect the way we see this figure. How much of what we see is real and how much is a symbol of our culture? Artists keep having this conversation, trading ideas and inspiring each other to see the world in new ways. It’s all so beautifully, wonderfully ambiguous, right?