Chief Joseph - Nez Percé
Artist
Edward S. Curtis
(American, 1868 - 1952)
Engraver
John Andrew & Son
(American (founded 1869))
Datecopyright 1903
Mediumphotogravure on paper
Dimensions22 × 18 1/4 inches (55.9 × 46.4 cm)
Other (Plate): 17 1/2 × 12 3/8 inches (44.5 × 31.4 cm)
Other (Plate): 17 1/2 × 12 3/8 inches (44.5 × 31.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchase of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, 2013
Object number2013.2.8.2
ClassificationsPhotographs
Label Text“The name of Chief Joseph is better known than that of any other Northwestern Indian.” Curtis photographed Chief Joseph in his studio in Seattle. He made several portraits of the Nez Percé chief. In some, Joseph wore a war bonnet. This image of Joseph with his upswept hair is especially powerful. Curtis portrayed Joseph as a disappointed, but resolute man. Curtis wrote about the Nez Percé efforts to retain tribal homelands. “That unfortunate effort to retain what was rightly their own makes an unparalleled story in the annals of the Indians’ resistance to the greed of the whites.”
ProvenanceAcquired by subscription directly from the artist by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.[1]; purchased December 6, 2012 through (Christies, New York, New York,[2]) by (Arader Galleries, New York, New York); purchased June 10, 2013 through (Arader Galleries, New York, New York) by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art | [1] This set was stored in the National Geographic Society’s archive housed in the Society’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. | [2] "The National Geographic Collection: The Art of Exploration," December 6, 2012, Christie’s, New York, Rockefeller Plaza, sale 2603, lot 65
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