Portraits of Historic American Indians - The Inspiration.

 

Growing up in Austria, we played “Cowboys and Indians” as kids. For us, the Indians were always the good guys.

 

As we know, history is written by the victors.

 

Around 1990, I was flying from JFK to Vienna. Feeling bored, I wandered around the terminal to kill time. In a gift shop, I stumbled upon a postcard rack featuring historic portraits of American Indians, photographed by Edward Curtis. I found them so fascinating that I bought every single postcard.

 

For most of the flight, I stared at each one. Just like with my earlier Homage to Egon Schiele project, I was so moved that I felt the urge to “do something” with them.

 

At that time, I had recently left photography behind to become a painter. One of my first decisions was not to paint portraits—I had done so many as a photographer that I felt there was no longer a challenge in it.

 

For over a year, those Curtis postcards sat on my desk. I often looked at them, searching for an idea, but, as had happened many times before, I eventually put them aside.

 

Then one day, my dear friend Susie Phipps from Palm Beach, who had many American Indian friends and actively supported their cause, was visited by some of them. As a gesture of gratitude for her hospitality, they organized a sweat lodge ceremony on her property. A sweat lodge, much like a sauna, is a deeply traditional cleansing ritual for American Indians. I was among a handful of friends invited to participate.

 

The next day, I started my very first portrait of a historic American Indian.

 

The few years I spent working on this series turned out to be invaluable—an on-the-job training that prepared me for my future animal paintings. In those years, I truly learned how to paint.