Wolfe's Haircut 2011

Kent Monkman painted "Wolfe's Haircut," and look how he has combined historical painting with something more mischievous! I imagine Monkman, brush in hand, layering glazes to create that tent's soft glow, and then those glorious, campy heels. The contrast between Miss Chief's confident pose and General Wolfe's languid repose is so loaded. What was he thinking as he painted that sly expression? It feels both playful and pointed, you know? The texture of the canvas, the way the light catches on the figures... it's all so deliberate. Look at the tension between the sharpness of the scissors and the softness of the skin. Monkman is in dialogue with painters of the past, but turning the tables, queering history, opening up new narratives. It's like he's saying, "Let's not take these old stories too seriously. Let's find the humor, the ambiguity, the untold truths."