This statue is extremely well known; End of the Trail, by James Earle Fraser. It is an incredible study in lines. Every line, from the braids to the spear to the horse's tail to the posture of horse and rider points in one direction. Down and west.I read once that when Fraser was growing up, his father was an Indian agent who really liked Indians. They often stopped at his home, talking late into the night. Fraser was fascinated with them, listening, and later talking to his father about them. He said in later years that he remembered one night when his father said, "The Indian was here first, and now the white man is driving him further and further west, until he is going to have no choice but to ride into the Pacific Ocean." And that is what this statue is meant to depict. It is a heart breaking piece. Which is one of the things that art is so good at and for -- showing us the concept in the image.
After all, when Colin Powell addressed the U.N. prior to the Iraq War, they covered Guernica, which Picasso painted after the bombing of that city. The horror of war from the air, to people and animals, is depicted with a strength that reaches inside and twists our hearts. This was the first piece of non-representational art that I totally understood and felt could not have been improved in any way.
