painting
portrait
painting
figuration
Dimensions: overall: 73.3 x 41 cm (28 7/8 x 16 1/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 57 1/2" high; 42" wide
Copyright: National Gallery of Art: CC0 1.0
Editor: Here we have Walter Hochstrasser's "Cigar Store Indian," circa 1937, rendered in watercolor and drawing. It certainly evokes a powerful, albeit somewhat stereotypical, image. What kind of historical narratives are wrapped up in this particular depiction? Curator: This watercolor brings to the forefront the complex history of Indigenous representation in American commercial culture. These cigar store figures, mass-produced and strategically placed outside tobacco shops, weren't simply decorative. They were actively used in advertising, playing into the prevalent romanticized and often inaccurate stereotypes of Native Americans that were circulating through popular culture. Editor: So it’s not just about a portrait, but more about how an image can function in society? Curator: Exactly. The artist is referencing not an actual Native person, but a widely disseminated cultural icon. What strikes you about the figure’s pose or attire? Editor: There is something about the offering gesture of the outstretched hand; it feels like both welcome and a solicitation. The adornments are…well, perhaps overly ornamental. Does the artistic rendering invite the viewer to critically reflect on such representations? Curator: That’s a keen observation. The very act of creating this drawing, decades after the figures’ peak popularity, might indeed signal an interrogation of these earlier commercial images. Perhaps Hochstrasser prompts us to question the societal gaze, forcing a discussion on historical and contemporary Indigenous portrayals. It is important to consider what images we see, who controls these images and the purpose they serve. Editor: I now realize there is more depth here. It becomes less about aesthetic taste and more about the politics of seeing and being seen. Curator: Precisely! Hopefully you, and others, will critically look at our social landscape now.
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