When I was in Denver, I saw this exhibit of 39 paintings by Charles Deas. He went westward in 1840, and lived amongst trappers and American Indians. And he painted them. His love of red endeared him to me, and the intensity with which he paints his subjects is a lure to look more closely at his subjects. This is the first exhibit of his work ever mounted, and it is thought that only about half of the paintings he painted are known today. The picture on the front of the book that accompanies the collection is 'Long Jakes, The Rocky Mountain Man' and is a classic depiction of men who lived in the American West prior to the Civil War.
Deas was more famous when he lived than after he died. He was committed to an asylum in 1848 and died there almost 20 years late. The paintings that he painted in the late 1840's were wild eyed and disturbing. Most memorable is 'Death Struggle', a depiction of a Winnebago and a trapper, both on horse that are going over a cliff. Deas captures the desperation of the moment on the faces of both men as they are on the brink of death--each grasping onto something, but without the offer of much hope (and a trapped beaver is being held by the neck by the trapper, and biting the warrior). There are stories that emerge from Deas' paintings and it is a shame he has been at least partially forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment