George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings at the National Gallery of Art
With the National Museum of the American Indian already on the mall, art that represents the American Indian doesn’t often show up at other local museums. But George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings, a National Gallery of Art show that opened this weekend, presents insight into both the work of an obscure painter and into 19th century Native American life.
Brush grew up in Brooklyn and Connecticut, and is not a Native American. He studied painting in New York and Paris, and in 1882, traveled to Wyoming and Montana, where he lived on a reservation. A year later, he returned east and began to teach and paint.
The exhibit consists of 21 paintings juxtaposing life studies of men from Arapahoe and Shoshone tribes to studio paintings that offer an outsider's view into the range of activities that comprised Native American life.
The show was partly inspired by the rediscovery of 1887’s An Aztec Sculptor, (above) which was lost for a century, and is one of the most impressive works on display. The painting features a sole figure, hunched over and sitting a turquoise rug on the floor, next to a wall of marble. He chips away at the wall, adding to an intricate design. An Aztec Sculptor, like several other Brush works, implies the artist’s skepticism about industrialization, and his worry that native crafts and traditions would be lost.
But Brush also looks at Native Americans in the outdoors — The Revenge and Mourning Her Brave set subjects on snowy hills, where they stand out amidst the white background in poses of triumph and solemnity, respectively. The Moose Chase presents a canoe with two rowers and another hunter at the prow, poised to kill the swimming moose with a spear. The backdrop is a mauve-colored hill, and the two rowers look away, concentrating on their oars.
Brush also addressed broader issues of the day — by incorporating birds into many of his American Indian paintings, he alluded to the fact that birds were in danger of becoming extinct, due to hunting, just as the Native American was endangered by white settlers.
Though the show only takes up two rooms, there's a lot to take in. Brush paints with great detail and hidden emotion, and his work offers an eye-witness view of an early period of American history.
The National Museum of the American Indian assisted with the exhibit, and the NGA and NMAI will co-sponsor Film Indians Now!, an eight-part series that explores contemporary American Indians in cinema. Each museum will host four films later this fall.
George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings runs through January 4 at the National Gallery of Art, which is located on the National Mall between 3rd and 7th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW. The Gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
George de Forest Brush (American 1855-1941)
An Aztec Sculptor, 1887
oil on panel, overall: 31.8 x 58.9 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington