Cigar Store Indian c. 1942

This drawing of a cigar store Indian—artist Mary Edith Brooks, we don’t know when—was likely made with watercolor, maybe some pencil. I can picture Brooks hunched over this thing, trying to figure out what it is, what it means. There’s this odd mix of boldness and fragility about it. The strokes seem tentative, unsure, yet the subject itself is so commanding, like it’s been standing for something for a very long time. It almost feels like Brooks is trying to capture a ghost, something that’s fading away but still has a presence. I see her trying to find the right balance between the light and shadow, trying to give it a life on paper, a kind of second chance. It makes me think about all the other artists who’ve looked at these figures, thought about what they represent. We’re all just trying to make sense of the world, one brushstroke at a time. Painting feels like a way of being in touch, even across time, with other humans.