Ira Yeager

“I romanticize the Indian. I think of them the same as I think of the court of Louis XVI. Beautiful feathers, fur and jewels…

Some ask if there is a magical philosophy why I paint Indians. It is a tool to use – of use for color exercises like a pianist does scales, like an architect builds a house. I paint music like a symphony or an opera. A successful Indian painting is like a Verdi – triumphant march. Repetition of images is like learning to play a perfect song. If I could play a perfect song, it would be Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata.’ Yes, I have done some virtuoso Indians in 40 years. Only the viewer would know.”

–Ira Yeager