Lot 90B
Edward Curtis (American, 1868-1952). "At the Old Well of Acoma" photogravure, ca. 1904. "Plate 571" printed above image. "From Copyright Photograph 1904 by E.S. Curtis" and "Photogravure Suffolk Eng. Co. Cambridge, Mass." printed beneath image. In this piece - entitled "At the Old Well of Acoma" - Curtis presents three Acoma women water carriers - two taking a rest on shore with their pottery vessels placed before them in the sand, while the third woman is filling her vessel in the well. The trio is surrounded by breathtaking New Mexican scenery, with rocky cliffs framing the waters. Edward Curtis created an epic 20 volume project to document Native Americans threatened by Westward expansion in the United States that was entitled "The North American Indian" (1907-1930). It was a masterwork that experts have estimated would cost more than $35 million to create today. Size of image: 14" W x 11.5" H (35.6 cm x 29.2 cm); of page: 21.5" W x 17.75" H (54.6 cm x 45.1 cm); of frame: 24.25" W x 20.25" H (61.6 cm x 51.4 cm)
This piece is accompanied by a booklet from 1980 describing a new edition of "The North American Indian" published by Classic Gravure.
To learn more about Curtis' impressive undertaking, please read Gilbert King's article in Smithsonian Magazine. It opens as follows, with King brilliantly capturing Curtis' urgency and steadfast work ethic to document the indigenous peoples before expansion would potentially eclipse their cultures, "Year after year, he packed his camera and supplieseverything hed need for monthsand traveled by foot and by horse deep into the Indian territories. At the beginning of the 20th century, Edward S. Curtis worked in the belief that he was in a desperate race against time to document, with film, sound and scholarship, the North American Indian before white expansion and the federal government destroyed what remained of their natives way of life. For thirty years, with the backing of men like J. Pierpont Morgan and former president Theodore Roosevelt, but at great expense to his family life and his health, Curtis lived among dozens of native tribes, devoting his life to his calling until he produced a definitive and unparalleled work, The North American Indian. The New York Herald hailed as 'the most ambitious enterprise in publishing since the production of the King James Bible.'" ("Edward Curtis Epic Project to Photograph Native Americans" by Gilbert King - Smithsonian Magazine March 21, 2012)
While Curtis has had his critics who have claimed that he romanticized the natives' existence, others have argued that he was ahead of his time and depicted them with dignity and respect. In her book entitled, "Shadow Catcher: The Life and Work of Edward S. Curtis" (Bison Books, 2005) Laurie Lawlor wrote, "When judged by the standards of his time, Curtis was far ahead of his contemporaries in sensitivity, tolerance and openness to Native American cultures and ways of thinking. He sought to observe and understand by going directly into the field."
Provenance: private Erie, Colorado, USA collection, acquired in the 1972; ex-Mission Gallery, Taos, New Mexico, USA
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#189645
- Condition: Set behind glass in custom matte and frame; has not been examined outside of glass. Some tattering to edges and slight discoloring to paper, but otherwise in very good condition with clear imagery. "From Copyright Photograph 1904 by E.S. Curtis" and "Photogravure Suffolk Eng. Co. Cambridge, Mass." printed beneath image. Suspension wire on verso of frame for display. This piece is accompanied by a booklet from 1980 describing a new edition of "The North American Indian" published by Classic Gravure.
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