Captain Lewis Meeting the Shoshones 1903

Charles M. Russell’s painting, Captain Lewis Meeting the Shoshones, is a watercolor work. I imagine the artist outside, carefully layering thin washes of color. In the foreground, there’s a meeting between two groups on what looks like a vast, empty plain. The artist has painted the scene with so much detail, so much care that the painting almost becomes a kind of record. Lewis and his party are in the foreground, facing the Shoshone, who are arriving from the background. The expressions of the figures are hard to discern, but the body language is hesitant. But it’s not just documentary, is it? In his work, Russell captures an imagined West, a place where landscape and memory and feeling all come together. The American flag is present, but its position is unassertive. It's almost as if he's asking: what does it mean to meet someone new, to encounter a new culture, a new way of life? It's about curiosity, respect, and maybe a little bit of fear too. And that’s always a good place to start.