The Thirsty Trapper

This oil sketch of one of Miller’s most popular compositions bears similarity to the finished oil painted for the Art Union in 1850. As in the Art Union canvas, the three figures are alone on a broad plain, apart from an Indian village. The overall composition is less successful, however, due to a few subtle changes. In the sketch, the woman turns in near full profile, so that our view of both her expression and the cup are blocked. Moreover, the exchange of the cup takes place against the backdrop of the horse, making it difficult to see what is taking place. Miller has also chosen to omit the gun, which lies across the trapper’s lap in the Beinecke, Art Union, and Walters versions, thereby losing another means of emphasizing or reiterating the path of exchange pictured in the painting. Miller has made this his most demure version of the scene by portraying the woman fully clothed in a fringed buckskin dress, with her feet and ankles covered by tall grass.

Lisa Strong