The art of Edward S. Curtis : photographs from the North American Indian

Summary: Edward Curtis was not the first to photograph Native Americans, but he was certainly among the most prolific and influential. His photographic studies of Native Americans were the result of over 30 years of work, and they have done much to shape the world's perceptions of Native Americans. This volume chronicles Curtis's career leading up to and through the circuitous route he took in order to complete his magnum opus The North American Indian -- a remarkable work of 20 volumes of text and 1505 full-page illustrations accompanied by 20 portfolios, containing 723 copper-plate photogravures. By the time he published the last volume of his work in 1930, Curtis's personal life -- his marriage, finances, and health -- were all in a disastrous state. Yet he had completed a work of monumental proportions which earned him a lasting piece in history. The photographs in The North American Indian reflect highly personal and sentimental vision which has more in common with art than anthropology. His work has in fact been controversial in the last 30 years because of the highly stylized nature of many of the images. Curtis sometimes posed his subjects to achieve a sentimental or artistic effect, and to further the notion, popular at the turn of the century, that Native Americans were a "vanishing race." Yet his romanticized images have become extremely popular, thanks primarily to their artistic qualities -- the result of a life's work of a remarkably dogged photographer with a vision. Over 100 carefully made reproductions of Curtis's finest works are presented in the exquisite volume celebrating one of America's most remarkable photographers.