Cigar Store Indian 1935 - 1942

Curator: Looking at this "Cigar Store Indian" dating back to sometime between 1935 and 1942, conjures images of bygone Americana. I immediately get this wave of melancholy. It’s not just a drawing, but a portal. What do you see? Editor: The meticulous detailing and structure speak of a very controlled, formal rendering. The figure dominates the composition, asserting its presence through strong verticality. The artist meticulously models the subject, using colour pencil to render the effect of volume. Curator: "Meticulous" is spot on. Knowing the artist, John Davis, it strikes me that it is charged with emotion. These objects—meant to beckon smokers inside shops—become artifacts, infused with the spirit of place. Folk art rendered as poignant portraits of lost identity. I get shivers of what the image suggests, no, sings of... of what? The past, and maybe something more. Editor: Let's look more closely at the form. Davis creates texture primarily through colour and repetition, giving structure to the feathers, garments, and especially the rough surface of the sculpture's wooden stand. It looks heavy, which effectively anchors the light sculpture on the upper register of the frame. The muted tonality furthers this grounding effect. Curator: Absolutely. There's a layered, complicated beauty in something so deliberately in the service of Commerce. Don’t you wonder what John Davis was thinking as he made these drawings? Editor: Davis has a precise application of colour and line. He transforms a piece of folk art into an illustration with symbolic resonance by taking, I suspect, extreme care. A piece designed to draw consumers through shop doors rendered with serious consideration for geometric form. Davis has transformed base commercial art to…something more than mere function. Curator: I can't help but read nostalgia here... the echo of lives and traditions. Editor: Indeed. Seeing these planes and how the light bounces... I suspect this is the drawing of a sculpture the artist saw with their own eyes. But it's the careful crafting of form and tone, which ultimately renders an affecting cultural artefact. Curator: Yes, exactly. The echoes, visual and felt, linger far beyond the storefronts. Editor: Indeed. And it is in the interplay between line and texture that this drawing achieves such resonance.