Small Comfort by western artist Howard Terpning

Small Comfort by Howard Terpning.

 

The bitter cold of a Montana or Alberta winter is reflected in this painting of a Blackfeet Indian warming his hands over a very small fire while his horse turns its rump to the freezing wind. A heavy growth of winter hair gives the animal some protection against the elements, though Indian horses weakened by malnutrition often succumbed to the cold. Among some northern tribes, February was known as the moon that the ponies die.

 

Says the artist: "If you've ever been up in Montana or Alberta in the dead of winter, you know how below-zero cold can come right through layers of heavy wool trousers and a modern down parka." The native people were better acclimated, but they were by no means immune.

 

Print released 1980.