Cigar Store Indian 1935 - 1942

Henry Murphy painted this Cigar Store Indian on a modest-sized piece of paper with watercolors. I can imagine him gently layering the brown and ochre washes, one over the other, trying to capture the solid, carved feel of that wooden figure that would have stood outside a tobacconist. Think about how the Native American became this commercial sign. I can see Murphy, maybe later in his life, with his failing eyesight, studying the object and trying to bring it to life on the page. He is trying to work out a three-dimensional object in two dimensions, flattening and distorting as he goes along. The feathers on the headdress stand up proudly, in pale blues, beiges and browns, and the figure itself is like a spectral memory of the original object. There’s an exchange that happens when one artist looks at another thing, whether it’s another artwork, a person, or even an advertisement. It makes me think about how all artists are always looking and learning from one another, even across time. This piece seems like a heartfelt attempt to capture something lost or fading.