Nez Perce
1917
Edgar Samuel Paxson was basically the documentary filmmaker of the Old West, but with a paintbrush. Here, he captures a Nez Perce man with an intense, stoic gaze that seems to look right through you. Notice the large white shell earrings and the intricate choker—these aren't just accessories, they're markers of identity and status. Painted in 1917, just two years before Paxson died, the soft washes of color make the subject feel like a memory fading into the white background, a fitting tribute from an artist obsessed with preserving a vanishing world.