Cigar Store Indian c. 1937

Editor: So this is "Cigar Store Indian", a drawing from around 1937 by Chris Makrenos. The subject is incredibly detailed; I’m immediately struck by the… well, kind of melancholic expression? What catches your eye? Curator: Melancholy, yes, I see it. You know, looking at this piece makes me wonder about authenticity. How much of what we see is a true representation, and how much is filtered through the artist's, and indeed our own, preconceptions? The very title speaks to a complicated history. What stories do we tell ourselves about who these figures are? The material – the wood, presumably – feels almost… weighted with history, doesn’t it? Editor: It does, definitely. Almost like the wood itself holds memories. I mean, is this just a portrait, or is there something more happening with it? Curator: Perhaps it is less a portrait, more a meditation. A meditation on appropriation, on commodification, on the very act of looking. These figures, rendered silent and still, became advertisements. Do you get the sense, looking at his face, of the cost? Or am I projecting? Maybe what I see depends so much on what I already know? Editor: Hmm… That gives me a whole different way of looking at this portrait. Curator: Isn't that what makes art so captivating? A single work can contain so many possible stories, and each viewer brings their own narrative to the canvas. Editor: Absolutely! Thanks; this has been really helpful. Curator: My pleasure. It is works like these that keep us asking those difficult, important questions.