The Dr. Samuel R. Poliakoff Collection of Western Art

Native peoples are often the subjects of western art. Sometimes considered romantic or idealistic in depiction of its subject matter, western art might better be understood as passionate about an era and peoples. the work filled with taunt emotions and lofty ideals. Certainly cowboys raced after calves on horseback, but these men were never so nattily dressed, their horses never so flawless in confirmation, or their members lacking the true racial diversity of cowboys. When depicting Native peoples, western artists often chose people of the Plains on horseback, wearing war bonnets and splendid beaded regalia, and often hunting or at war.