The Infantry Square 1893

Curator: Ah, "The Infantry Square" by Frederic Remington, painted in 1893. Remington, of course, captured the West with such vivid immediacy, but here he's transported us… somewhere else. Editor: Yes, a rather grim somewhere. What strikes me is this incredible claustrophobia despite the implied landscape. That tightly packed formation against a neutral sky almost suffocates. Curator: Doesn't it, though? He layers the forms, almost indistinguishable, merging man and uniform. It feels less like glorifying battle, and more about conveying the individual swallowed by a collective horror. You almost feel their fear, their focus. Editor: There’s an interesting tension here. Remington seems intent on depicting a highly structured unit – the titular "square" – while simultaneously undermining that structure through expressive brushwork. Look at how he loses detail in the periphery. Curator: Like whispered rumors, spreading fear on the breeze. His palette, too, contributes—limited grays and browns with sporadic flashes. The men become shadows, instruments of some impersonal force. There is not even one true tone. Editor: The materiality itself reflects this uncertainty. It's paint, applied in short strokes—but also, in a way, a mirage. Is that smoke or impasto blending soldier to soldier? Curator: Or did he smear our hope on there, so no one might steal the dreams of innocence? I think maybe it's a premonition more than any factual event...a little dream. You almost smell the sweat and the gunpowder, though don’t you? Remington wants you in there… Editor: Indeed, you’re implicated through perspective. Remington places us at ground level, near fallen bodies and awaiting oblivion. An intimate, chillingly designed scene. Curator: But he does offer us a space… if even such a one. A strange testament from a man of such rugged stature, it makes one reflect that not even the mightiest amongst us are immune to that dark dream of war... or is that me waxing overly dramatic again? Editor: Perhaps slightly, but that vulnerability contributes greatly. The lack of specificity only adds to the scene's poignancy, an enduring testament to humankind's darker angels.