Cigar Store Indian 1935 - 1942

This anonymous watercolor rendering gives us a glimpse into a wooden sculpture known as a Cigar Store Indian. The artist, maybe a sign painter, carefully sketched out the figure in thin layers of paint, with plenty of fine details. There’s a fascinating texture to the piece that comes from the build-up of pigment on the page. You can see delicate brushstrokes creating the folds of the figure’s dress, the subtle gradations in his skin tone, and the rough-hewn texture of the wood that seems to peek through the colors. The artist plays with transparency and opacity, allowing the paper to show through in areas, creating a sense of light and airiness. Look closely at the base of the figure, there is a ghost-like, unfinished area, reminding us of the labor involved in image-making. The treatment reminds me of Milton Avery, or maybe Marsden Hartley, who both used thin washes of color in their paintings. And just like with those guys, with this piece, we are reminded that art is a conversation across time, a constant dialogue between artists and ideas, where meaning is never fixed but always in flux.