The North American Indian [Volume Ten]

Art Historical Context

Edward Sheriff Curtis's * North American Indian [Volume]*, published in 1914, forms part of his monumental 20-volume ethnographic project (1907–1930) to document the cultures, traditions, and daily lives of Native American tribes North America. This lavish portfolio contains 34 photogravuresrich, intaglio prints made from photographic negatives on cream wove paper—offering stunning reproductions of Curtis's fieldwork images. Measuring 22¾ × 19¼ × 1 inches when closed, it exemplifies early 20th-century fine art printing, where photogravure's velvety tones and subtle gradations captured the dramatic landscapes and dignified portraits that defined Curtis's pictorialist style. Curtis, often called the "shadow catcher" for his ethereal photographic effects, traveled extensively with tribal communities, recording rituals, portraits, and artifacts before modernization eroded them. Volume Ten likely focuses on tribes from the Southwest and Great Plains, though specifics vary by edition, highlighting vanishing ways of life amid U.S. expansion. His work blends artistry with anthropology, influencing modern perceptions of Indigenous heritage despite later critiques of romanticization. Today, housed in the National Gallery of Art's Collection of Prints and Photographs (gift of Mitchell and Nancy Steir), this portfolio invites visitors to appreciate not just visual beauty, but a poignant chapter in American history—where photography preserved stories on the brink of change.

About the Artist

Edward Sheriff Curtis · 1868–1952

Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868–1952) was born on February 19 near Whitewater, Wisconsin, into a struggling family led by his father, Reverend Asahel Curtis, a Civil War veteran and farmer, and mother Ellen Sheriff. Raised in poverty amid his father's postwar frailties, Curtis left school after sixth grade and apprenticed as a photographer in a St. Paul, Minnesota, studio at age seventeen in 1885. The...