French Explorer’s Council with the Indians 1901

Frederic Remington made this painting of a council between a French explorer and Native Americans with dark, subdued tones, maybe in oil, maybe in egg tempera. You know, the kind of tones that seem to absorb the light. Imagine him there, Remington, working in the dim studio light to create this scene, layer upon layer. He probably started by sketching out the basic composition with charcoal, thinking through the placement of each figure. He blocks in the darks and lights, building up volume and form. I wonder if he ever felt like an intruder, as if he was eavesdropping on a private moment? Like, painting is about intimacy, and he wasn’t quite there, but he was getting closer. The explorers and the council gathered around the fire – a central motif in painting. I like to think about artists from different eras being in conversation with each other, even if they don't know it. Artists are constantly borrowing, referencing, and reinterpreting ideas, in an ongoing exchange across time.