One Hundred Masterworks

EdwardS.CurtisOne Hundred Masterworks

Exhibition Proposal

An Oasis in the Badlands, 1905 Photogravure

Foundation for the

Exhibition of Photography

5028 Washburn Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 55410

www.fep-photo.org

Todd Brandow, Executive Director

[email protected]

Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis 2

Concept 3

Curtis Biography 4

Sacred Legacy 5

Dates and Details of Tour 6

Length of Exhibition 6

Operational Costs 7

Catalogue 7

Contents 7

Previous Exhibition History 8

Organizational Body 8

Curatorial Policy 8

Curator 9

Selected Images 10

3Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis

Concept“One Hundred Masterworks”, an extraordinary selection of

vintage photographs by Edward S. Curtis, highlights both

iconic and previously little known images, the majority printed

in Curtis’ most compelling and rare processes. The prints are

among the finest examples that exist and, in some cases, are the

only known example of a particular image. Every style, subject

matter, cultural/geographic area, and medium Curtis worked in

is included. Many of the prints have an important provenance;

some were in Edward Curtis’ personal collection, many have

important exhibition and publication histories, and all are drawn

from the world’s pre-eminent collection of Curtis’ work, built

over a forty-year period by the world’s foremost Curtis collector

and scholar, Christopher Cardozo. The collection from which

this exhibition is drawn comprises over 3,000 vintage Curtis

photographs and related objects.

The exhibition showcases prints created in seven different

photographic print mediums and are complemented by objects

and other ephemera that will both contextualize and enrich the

masterworks. The different print mediums include photogravure,

platinum, goldtone, toned and un-toned gelatin silver, cyanotype,

and gold-toned printing-out paper prints. Approximately 98%

of the prints that Curtis created (and that survive) were made

in the photogravure process. Nearly all-previous exhibitions of

Curtis’ vintage photographs comprised only the photogravure

prints. This exhibition not only includes photogravures, but

the majority of the photographs are printed in the rarer, seldom

seen, mediums. Aesthetically the prints are of a consistently high

level, heretofore unseen in vintage Curtis exhibitions.

A Navaho Child, 1903 Platinum print


Curtis BiographyEdward Curtis was born in 1868 and grew up in abject poverty

in rural Minnesota. He built his first camera at age twelve, thus

unwittingly embarking on his lifelong photographic career. In 1887,

Curtis moved to the Pacific Northwest where he quickly positioned

himself as Seattle’s foremost studio photographer. This success

gave him the freedom to pursue his love of the great outdoors

and this activity brought him into contact with small groups of

Native Americans who were still living somewhat traditional lives.

By 1900 these experiences had led Curtis to embark upon

an undertaking that would consume him for the next thirty

years. This project was the creation of his magnum opus,

“The North American Indian”, a twenty-volume, twenty-portfolio

set of handmade books. Each set contains over 2,200 original

photographs, plus extensive text, and transcriptions of language

and music. It is difficult to overestimate the enormity of Curtis’

task and achievement. The project involved over one hundred

artisans, translators, sales staff, logistical support, field assistants,

accountants, etc. It is estimated that 10,000 Native Americans

also participated in the realization of this thirty-year endeavor. In

today’s dollars it was an approximately $35,000,000 publishing

project, unparalleled in American publishing history.

While “The North American Indian” is an inestimable contribution to

the world of art, photography, ethnography, and fine bookmaking,

the project nearly killed Curtis. He lost his family, his money, and

his health and by 1930 he was a broken man. While he lived out

the rest of his life in obscurity, he left us with a sacred legacy that

surely will endure for many, many years to come.

“I like a man who attempts the impossible” —J.P. Morgan

Edward S. Curtis Self Portrait, 1899 Photogravure


Sacred LegacyThis exhibition also honors and celebrates Native peoples:

their lives, their history and their culture. Over one hundred

years ago, Curtis set out on a monumental quest to make an

unprecedented, comprehensive record of the North American

Indian. He produced 40,000-50,000 photographs of Native

peoples. Curtis’ mission was to safeguard and preserve their

‘sacred legacy’ for future generations by creating a permanent

record of their lives in photographs, film, sound, and text. This was

a highly collaborative process in which the Native people were

active participants and co-creators. They shared their religion,

mythology, personal histories in ways that were unprecedented.

Curtis was a witness, messenger, and co-creator. Today this

work stands as a landmark in the history of photography, book

publishing, ethnography, and the American West. Viewed in

its entirety, Curtis’ work presents an aesthetic, cultural, and

historical record of enormous importance.

Another important legacy of Curtis’ monumental accomplishment

is the expression of an extraordinary and deeply felt empathy and

understanding of the personal, emotional, and spiritual lives of

the American Indian. The work’s core message is one of beauty,

heart and spirit. In these respects, this collaborative body of work

is unique and unparalleled. It is a deeply human story which has

touched people around the globe for over a century.

Kotsuis and hohhug - Nakoaktok, 1914 Photogravure


Dates and Details of TourThe tour will begin in the United States in 2015 and continue

to travel through 2017. The exhibition will be limited to four

venues in the Americas, three in Asia and one in Europe.

Length of ExhibitionTen weeks (may be extended depending upon scheduling

requirements of the participating museums and the overall tour).

Kwakiutl House Frame, 1914 Photogravure


Operational CostsParticipation fee is US$40,000, plus a prorata share of

transportation and insurance costs. Travel expenses and a

modest per diem will be expected for the curator and director

of the project to attend the opening and assist with installation.

CatalogueA comprehensive, high-quality, hardbound catalogue will be created

by Delmonico Books/Prestel Verlag to accompany the exhibition.

The catalogue will include state-of-the-art reproductions of all

images in the exhibition as well as complementary images of Curtis

photographs, ephemera, and related objects. The catalogue will

also include essays by four noted writers. Production values will be

of the highest order.

ContentsThe exhibition comprises 100 custom oak and cherry

framed vintage Curtis photographs plus numerous objects

and ephemera all drawn from the Christopher G. Cardozo/

Edward Curtis Collection.

Bear’s Belly - Arikara, 1908 Photogravure


Previous Exhibition HistoryEdward Curtis is one of the most broadly exhibited, collected, and

published photographers in the history of the medium. His work

is found in major public collections including the J. Paul Getty

Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art and in

innumerable private collections internationally. Significant exhibitions

of Curtis’ work have been shown every decade since The Morgan

Library and Museum exhibition in 1972. Curtis’ photographs have

been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Whitney

Museum of American Art, the de Young Museum, Museum of

Modern Art, Musee de l’Elysee, among others. There have been

over thirty monographs on Curtis’ work over the past thirty-five years.

Virtually all past exhibitions of Curtis’ vintage work have been drawn

from his photogravure oeuvre. “One Hundred Masterworks” will be

unique in that the majority of the prints will be non-photogravures and

will include every medium in which Curtis is known to have worked.

Given the extraordinary international response to Curtis’ work, “One

Hundred Masterworks” promises to be an extremely popular and

critically acclaimed exhibition.

Organizational BodyThis exhibition will be produced and toured under the auspices

of the American non-profit organization, the Foundation for the

Exhibition of Photography (FEP), Minneapolis/Paris/Lausanne.

Curatorial PolicyIn addition to the FEP Curators, the Foundation engages distinguished

outside curators and historians for its projects. Among past and current

contributors are: Tobia Bezzola (current director of the Folkwang

Museum), Carol Squiers (International Center of Photography), Joan

Simon (Curator-at-large at the Whitney Museum), Patterson Sims

(former deputy director of MoMA), Barbara Hitchcock (former curator of

the Polaroid Collection) and A.D. Coleman (independent critic/author).

A Walpi Man, 1900 Platinum print


Director of the projectTodd Brandow is the founding Executive Director of the Foundation

for the Exhibition of Photography, celebrating its tenth anniversary in

2013. He has been based in Paris since 1997, working during that

time as a photography curator, foundation director and book publisher.

He co-produced and co-curated the above-mentioned Edward S.

Curtis exhibition tours. He co-curated a retrospective tour of Finnish

photographer Arno Rafael Minkkinen with critic A. D. Coleman and co-

curated with William Ewing and Nathalie Herschdorfer three exhibitions

on Edward Steichen. Projects recently produced include the first major

thematic show independently curated from the Condé Nast Archive,

“Coming into Fashion”; an Arnold Newman retrospective, co-produced

with the Harry Ransom Center; and a Lorna Simpson exhibition co-

produced with the Jeu de Paume. Projects in development include a

major survey on Polaroid with the MIT Museum and a contemporary

photography exhibition on adolescence.

CuratorChristopher Cardozo is widely acknowledged as the world’s

leading authority on the great photographer, Edward S. Curtis.

Cardozo began collecting Curtis’ artwork forty years ago. He

first discovered the work of Edward Curtis in 1973 after a friend

saw Cardozo’s own sepia-toned photographs of Native people.

Cardozo had just spent six months living in a very isolated tribal

village where he made over 10,000 negatives, created film footage,

and made sound recordings of language and music. Today he

is both owner and curator of the Christopher Cardozo/Edward

S. Curtis Collection, the worlds’ largest and most broad-ranging

collection of the photographer’s work. Cardozo is the author of

eight monographs on Edward Curtis. He has curated one-person

Curtis exhibitions that have been seen in nearly one hundred

venues in over forty countries across six continents.

Kutenai Duck Hunter, 1910 Photogravure


Selected Images

Geronimo - Apache, 1905 Platinum print


Vintage Curtis Studio Sticker

Original Curtis Picture Musicale Poster

Puget Sound Baskets, 1912 Photogravure


Shot in the Hand - Apsaroke, 1908 Photogravure

Hashogan-Navaho, 1904 Platinum print


Housetop Life, 1906 Platinum print

Tapa “Antelope Water”-Taos, 1903 Platinum print


Waiting in the Forest - Cheyenne, 1910 Photogravure

Untitled (Moki Girl and Jar) Platinum print


Volume I – The North American Indian, 1907, Volume I – Spine Harriman Volumes

Original Subscription Agreement, CGC 1614

Original Edward Curtis Lecture Poster, Musicale Poster LecturePoster

Original Curtis & Guptill Cabinet Card, C.1893


Qahatika Girl, 1907 Photogravure

The Medicine Man - Hastobîga, 1904 Photogravure

Woman and Child - Nunivak, 1930 Photogravure

Foundation for the

Exhibition of Photography

5028 Washburn Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 55410

www.fep-photo.org

Todd Brandow, Executive Director

[email protected]


Cañon de Chelly - Navaho, 1904 Photogravure

“It’s such a big dream, I can’t see it all” —Edward S. Curtis

Documents

One Hundred Masterworks