Cigar Store Indian c. 1939

Michael Riccitelli made this watercolor of a Cigar Store Indian. I just love how the watercolour paint has settled into the texture of the page! It's easy to imagine him, in front of the object, moving and shifting to get the right angle. What's he thinking as he makes the picture? The paint is thin, almost translucent, but the layering of washes gives such volume to the figure, the soft mauves, yellows and reds blend to give depth and form. There’s something so charming about the textures, the skirt and the feathers, each ridge emphasized by the artist. The slight upward gesture of the figure's hand draws the viewer's eye, almost like the figure is saying “Hey, look at this!”. It makes me think about other artists’ work in the field of American folk art like that of Joseph Pickett. We can imagine artists conversing across time, picking up and riffing on each other’s ideas. For me, this embraces the ambiguity of art, creating multiple interpretations of the work over time.