French Explorer’s Council with the Indians 1901

Frederic Remington made this painting of a meeting between French explorers and Native Americans using oil, and probably only a few colours. Remington’s work here is all about capturing the mood of the campfire: the way that light flickers, obscures, and reveals. It is as much about the painting of the darkness as it is the light. Look at the single figure sitting in the foreground, back to us: his body is almost a pure silhouette, a void amongst the smoky atmosphere of the scene. His dark outline has such solidity and realness; it almost feels sculptural, as though Remington has carved that figure from the canvas itself. This is very different from, say, a Bierstadt painting, but it feels like it anticipates the psychological rawness of someone like Marsden Hartley. Art is about the ongoing conversation, you know?