Squaw Dance 1929

Stephen Mopope’s ‘Squaw Dance’ is a flat, carefully arranged painting. It’s all ochre, reds, and indigos. I love how this painter uses the simple tools of color and shape to describe figures in ceremonial dress. I can imagine Mopope thinking about how to create this piece. Starting with a flat ochre ground. Then adding the different characters who each hold their own unique identity. It makes me wonder about the relationship between the artist and the dancers he depicts. Is he representing a memory? Is it a contemporary scene? Or something else? These figures show a rhythm of bodies moving through space. The lines are sharp and the colors are bold, but somehow the overall feeling is one of quiet grace. The painting's surface seems like it was created with a dry brush. The figures are solid, yet they also feel strangely transparent, almost like ghosts. I imagine Mopope and other artists are in dialogue, each inspired by the other's vision.