Cigar Store Indian 1937

Irving L. Biehn made this striking watercolor drawing of a Cigar Store Indian. I wonder, what was Biehn thinking as he laid down these washes of intense blue and yellow, imagining the original carved figure? I can picture him patiently building up each colour with multiple layers. Look how the textures play against each other! The figure’s raised arm and fist might have been a way for the artist to convey a feeling of strength. Or maybe he just liked the way the arm echoed the angle of the feather headdress. You know, painting is all about call and response, one shape suggesting another, and so on. Painters are always borrowing and reinterpreting images from the world around them, constantly in conversation across time. And just as the meaning of an image transforms over time, so does its emotional resonance.