The Abandoned Dream

Additional Information

Tom Lovell was a master storyteller, the product of many years working as a New York illustrator creating images for stories about detectives, cowboys, soldiers, sailors and adventurers. He was also a master at titling his paintings. Decisive words in short titles often expanded the story even further. Such is the case here in The Abandoned Dream, a masterful painting from 1984 that benefits from a great title. The painting by itself shows one side of the story: Native American riders have stumbled upon a broken wagon full of metal tools and various supplies. One warrior raises his haul, a new mining pan glistening in the sunlight, while another picks through the odd assortment of objects in the wagon. The title, The Abandoned Dream, reveals the other side of the story: miners passing over a rutted road have broken a wagon wheel. They can risk their safety and wait for someone to pass by to render help, or they can unhitch their wagon and head to safety with what they can carry, leaving everything else behind. Lovell’s use of “abandoned” conveys the sorrow and heartache that came to some of the unlucky pioneers of the Old West. And yet “abandoned dream” could also describe the treasure discovered by the Native American figures.

The Abandoned Dream is also a great example of Lovell’s fair portrayal of Indigenous people. Some artists from his time, especially some of the pulp illustrators, were prone to exploitive depictions of Native Americans that perpetuated cruel stereotypes and false histories. From an early age, Lovell was sympathetic to Native peoples. Famously, as the valedictorian of his high school class, he was invited to speak to his fellow graduates and their parents. He used the occasion for a speech titled “The Ill-treatment of the American Indian by the U.S. Government. “In retrospect, I wonder how 300 hapless parents felt being scolded by a 16-year-old on an otherwise cheerful occasion.” Over the course of his long career, Lovell created hundreds of images of Native Americans that exemplified their culture, traditions, curiosity, strength and their long fight for survival during perilous times.

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Please note that the first unframed photo is most accurate for color. Framed photographs are to show the frame and are not color corrected to the painting.

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