Cigar Store Indian c. 1936

This watercolour painting shows a Cigar Store Indian and was made by Elmer G. Anderson. The tan wash is the most striking thing – it covers everything and unifies the composition. It makes me think that it was made with a lot of trial and error. Anderson was probably trying to get the tone just right, slowly working it out. I wonder what Elmer was thinking when he was making this – it seems to me, he was sympathetic to his subject. He might have been curious about this figure, the history, and why these sculptures were made. Look at the index finger raised to the sky. Does she point the way or warn of danger? Paintings don’t give us fixed meanings, they're more like proposals for thinking and feeling. Painting is an ongoing conversation, and artists are always borrowing, exchanging, and riffing off each other.