Ostrich Chase, Buenos Aires - Auca 1854 - 1869

Editor: This is "Ostrich Chase, Buenos Aires - Auca," painted by George Catlin sometime between 1854 and 1869. The medium is oil on, well, I’m not entirely sure. There's something quite dramatic, almost melancholic, about the light across the plains. It feels vast and a bit lonely. What draws your eye when you look at this painting? Curator: The light definitely speaks of a fleeting moment, doesn't it? Almost as if dusk is settling, both on the landscape and perhaps a way of life. The drama you feel stems from the dynamic scene—man, horse, and fleeing ostrich locked in this chase, a kind of wild ballet across the pampas. What do you think Catlin is trying to say with this? Editor: Maybe it's about the thrill of the hunt, the mastery of man over nature? Curator: Perhaps. But consider the time it was painted. The seemingly endless plains were being rapidly transformed, the indigenous cultures displaced. Could this also be a glimpse of a disappearing world, a lament for what's being lost? Think about how the ostrich, in its frantic flight, embodies a certain desperate energy. Editor: So, it's more complicated than just a hunting scene? The artist maybe has a strong emotion about it? Curator: Exactly! Catlin wasn’t just documenting; he was responding to the transformations he witnessed. He may very well be looking at it both with a sense of excitement and a looming sorrow. It’s always those in-between spaces, those emotional crosscurrents, where the richest stories hide. And that smoky residue might also be the representation of modern rifle. What's more jarring than ancient wildlife shot with such tool? Editor: I didn't think about it that way. Now I see a lot more to it than a basic hunt, which gives a whole other perspective to Catlin's work! Thanks for the explanation. Curator: It's like a history lesson, isn't it? One we piece together with every brushstroke, a kind of shared storytelling across the ages. Thanks to you too, It has been enriching, because I almost saw an action shot from a Western.