Buffalo Bull Grazing 1845

Editor: We're looking at George Catlin's "Buffalo Bull Grazing" from 1845, a watercolor and pencil drawing on paper. It’s so…stark. The buffalo is immense and imposing, but there’s also a vulnerability to its solitary stance. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a complex and deeply troubling depiction embedded within the context of westward expansion and the systematic displacement of Indigenous peoples. Catlin was lauded for documenting Native American life, but was he also complicit in its destruction? The romanticized realism almost serves to legitimize the concept of "manifest destiny" as this bull becomes a symbol for both the untouched American West, and for something to be dominated. How do you read the romantic, landscape background here, and what it symbolizes? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way. I guess the landscape does suggest this “empty” space, ready for…cultivation? I mean, the animal does seem peaceful, though maybe that's a deception. But this wasn’t Catlin’s intention, right? To promote westward expansion? Curator: It's difficult to say definitively, isn't it? We have to consider the gaze through which Catlin was observing. The power dynamics at play when a white artist is depicting the culture and environment of a group simultaneously being dispossessed and how even well intentioned attempts risk reinforcing damaging tropes, and normalizing cultural genocide. It's important to not view this as a neutral observation, but one filtered through race, power, and impending loss. Editor: This is really thought-provoking. It definitely gives the image a different weight. It’s a reminder to always question the artist’s perspective. Curator: Absolutely. Art is rarely created in a vacuum; understanding the historical and cultural forces at play are crucial. The dialogue, though uncomfortable, is important.