Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge Discussion.

Matthew Brown
 Candace Nicol
 Art 160

Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge Discussion.

            In my humble opinion, “Treaty Signing at Medicine Creek Lodge” by John Taylor is much more representational while the painting by Howling Wolf is obviously an abstract. In form, these paintings differ from the way they were painted to the colors used. The landscape is different when it comes to the grass, dead trees and the river. Howling Wolf took a different approach to his art piece in that it is more childlike and uses bright colors. John Taylor shows the treaty signing as just a big crowded place with little room left to even move around, while Wolf depicts a wide open area to showcase the abundance of space. The fact that Taylors painting leads the viewer’s eyes to the center of the piece proves that he is classical style artist. They use a vanishing point in their art to show the size, scope and give a feeling of depth to the work. Whereas Wolf is purely abstract in his form and is all over the place. He has a horse that is as tall as the humans and trees. In Taylor’s piece the Natives are not very distinguishable. There were many different tribes at the event and yet Taylor makes it seem as if they are all the same type of people. It is even hard to tell who the chiefs in his piece are. It is a very stereotypical and even ethnocentric approach to art in that fashion. Also, the role of women and how they were portrayed is vastly different in these two art works. Wolf shows women and their importance to life and the community, while Taylor shows no women at all, just tribal men. This goes to show how Christian people of that time viewed women and Native Americans status. Wolf has a more holistic approach in the way he makes his art. This is not only because of his style of art but also has a lot to do with his culture and spiritual beliefs.