Cincinnati Art Museum explores American Indian imagery
Artists had already been addressing that question, and much artwork exhibited at the Columbian Exposition--the world's fair of industry and the arts--provided the answer. The American Indian--specifically, the noble, resolute Plains Indian living in harmony with nature--became the emblem of all that late-19th-century Americans suddenly realized they had lost.
Prior to this period, whites feared the American Indians, brought disease and destruction to their way of life, drove them off their lands to reservations, forced Christianity on them and sent their children away to boarding schools. Once the mêlée was over, American consumers appeased their guilt by purchasing idyllic pictures of the culture they had decimated.
Farny took similar license in his paintings. Despite his meticulous attention to detail, evident when compared with the artifacts on view, he often confused cultures and time periods. Feathered war bonnets were a recognizable prop, yet American Indians only wore them during important ceremonies. If you based your knowledge on Farny's paintings, Rookwood ceramics or other popular imagery of the late 19th century, you'd think they wore them nearly every day.