Nantan Lupan Can Wait 2017

Curator: This arresting tableau before us is "Nantan Lupan Can Wait," an oil on canvas painted in 2017 by Mark Maggiori. Editor: Woah. This instantly feels monumental, doesn't it? I mean, the tiny figures and their horses almost get swallowed up by the desert landscape, and then BAM, you've got that mega-cloud looming over everything. Curator: Absolutely. Maggiori uses classical techniques, really harking back to academic art, to capture the immensity of the American West. You see this especially in the detail of the figures set against the vast backdrop. Editor: It's like those old history paintings, but the real subject isn't the cowboys but this sky, or maybe, like, our insignificance within this natural spectacle? The title adds an element of human urgency to it all though, a pause that implies much. Curator: I find the title to be deeply poignant. Nantan Lupan was a Chiricahua Apache leader. Perhaps the waiting alludes to an unresolved clash of cultures in the Western narrative? Editor: That's some weighty baggage it brings with it. Now the classic technique makes the scene more emotionally conflicting. I mean, these sharp, realistic figures stand at odds against that crazy swirling cumulus. Curator: Right. There's a kind of visual tension at play with his very direct realistic figuration and the drama of the light and setting that pulls one in. Also his plein-air roots show, don't you think? The naturalism and raw detail? Editor: Totally, there's a strong immediacy about it. Despite the weight of history and that sky, the open, visible brushstrokes are still noticeable on close inspection. This, in a very strange way, is really something special. It's classic painting meets an alien, western surreality! Curator: Maggiori manages to bridge grand historical themes with the stark beauty and inherent tension of a changing landscape. A truly masterful encapsulation of presence and pause. Editor: I think you’re spot on. That cloud—those tiny soldiers. What a bold way to express the fleeting yet impactful human presence against the expanse of nature's power.