Green River, Oregon

  • Yet another version of the Green River scene, this one is in an oval format, and quite similar to the earlier paintings. (CR #225A and #225B) All probably draw on Miller’s sympathy for theatrical design and his experience with theatrical sketches. A well-known fan of the theater, Miller often laid out his compositions as if he were designing a set: a foreground of rocks, a bit of earth, a shoreline with a middle ground (or stage), often of water, with a backdrop of the mountains on two or three sides. The action in this painting begins in the left-center foreground, with the rider with the red blanket on the white horse directing the viewer’s attention to the other Indians in the river, and then to the large, ceremonial teepees on the left that have been set up for the rendezvous. (Troccoli, 1990, p. 13)

    Ron Tyler

    Artist
    Alfred Jacob Miller
    Date
    Unknown
    Catalogue Number
    225C
    Medium
    Oil on canvas (oval)
    Dimensions
    29 x 36 (73.7 x 91.4 cm)
    Accession Number
    0126.736
    Subjects
    Green River

    The artist; Martin Weisendanger, Tulsa, OK; [M. Knoedler and Company, New York, NY, 1949]; Thomas Gilcrease, Tulsa, OK; present owner by gift