International studio (52.1914)

Charles Craig: Painter of Indians and Western Scenes


imagined his determination and hard work would
compensate for his lack of instruction. He was

fascinated by the colour and picturesqueness of the
American Indians, and for four years he lived
among them. In 1869, Craig reluctantly but
wisely, turned his face eastward, for he then real-
ized that he was not properly equipped to paint as
he desired, without hard academic study. The
Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts was his Mecca,
and there he drew from the antique until 1873,
when he entered the studio of the veteran land-
scapist and etcher, Peter Moran. After almost a
dozen years of “hard plugging” for right knowl-
edge, Craig in 1881 returned to the mountains of
Colorado and began to work on his chosen sub-
jects. Having acquired now the proper training
and technique, he immediately made a place for
himself as a painter of Indians and Western
scenes. His little studio soon attracted Eastern
visitors, many of whom had been exiled to Colo-
rado to regain their health. He painted some
portraits, among them one of the beautiful Mrs.
Samuel S. Chauncey, and another of the well-
known New York financier, Mr. Grant B. Schley,
but it was an effort for Craig to do purely indoor
work. The Indians with their background of
mountains and plains, appealed to his imagination
and drew him away from the conventionalities of
civilization.
In the spring of every year Craig turns the key




SCOUTING PARTY

BY CHARLES CRAIG

XCV