Cigar Store Indian c. 1937

Chris Makrenos painted this Cigar Store Indian, most likely in the mid-20th century, and the piece captures the colours, textures and sculptural form of the original carved wood figures. Makrenos has used thin layers of paint, almost like watercolour, to create the soft, hazy appearance of the Indian on its wheeled tobacco stand. I can almost feel the artist’s focus as he carefully renders the details of the figure, his hand moving across the surface of the paper to describe the folds of the cloak, the colour gradations of the feathers, the planes of the figure’s face. I can imagine him thinking about folk traditions and modes of representation in a world saturated with cheap goods. His careful brushstrokes suggest both an intimate and critical connection to the history of representation, just as a painter like Philip Guston wrestled with cartoonish and politically loaded forms. Painting is always in conversation with itself, with other painting across time and space. Artists respond to each other, steal from each other, argue with each other, and in the process, make something new.