Traveling Exhibition of American Indian Masterpieces Debuts at The Cleveland Museum of Art
Released November 02, 2009
For more information:
James Kopniske, (216) 707-2261
jkopniske@clevelandart.org
More than 100 works from the renowned Thaw Collection showcase artistry of cultures across millennia and throughout North America
CLEVELAND (October 27, 2009) — Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection, a major traveling exhibition, developed by the Fenimore Art Museum, making its debut at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) in March 2010, explores Native North American art from the Eastern Woodlands to the Northwest through more than 140 masterpieces spanning 2,000 years. The exhibition provides visitors with a broad understanding and appreciation of the aesthetic accomplishments and cultural heritage of this country’s first peoples. Art of the American Indians opens at CMA on March 7, 2010, and runs through May 30 before traveling to Minneapolis and Indianapolis.
The objects in the exhibition are drawn from the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of Native North American Art, which was carefully assembled over the past two decades by Eugene V. Thaw, one of the art world’s most distinguished connoisseurs and collectors of art. This is the first time this collection is being treated as an exhibition and several key objects will only be seen at the Cleveland venue.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see an extraordinary range of Native North American works of the highest quality, each piece a paragon of creativity and artistic excellence,” said Sue Bergh, associate curator of Pre-Columbian and Native North American art, CMA. “In Eugene Thaw’s own words, ‘Indian material culture stands rightfully with ancient art masterpieces of Asia and Europe as their equivalent.’ We are delighted to offer visitors this opportunity to more deeply examine this fascinating dimension of the American experience and history.”
The works in Art of the American Indians are organized by geographic regions, moving from the ancient ivories and ingenious modern masks of the Arctic to the astonishingly beautiful and dramatic arts of the Pacific Northwest, which form one of the pillars of the Thaw Collection. The basketry of Native weavers appears in a section devoted to California and the adjacent Great Basin, home of Louisa Keyser (also known as Dat So La Lee), a renowned Washoe basket weaver and one of the most celebrated Native artists. Beacon Lights, Keyser’s most famous creation, will be a centerpiece of the exhibition.
The abstract art of the culturally complex Southwest will be shown in both its ancient and modern manifestations. From the Plains come outstanding examples of the colorful beaded, feathered, and painted works for which the region is most famous. Finally are the Eastern Woodlands, including the Great Lakes, and their visually quieter and more contemplative arts, which are another of the collection’s great strengths.
The majority of the 120 piece collection dates to the 19th century, but archaeological and contemporary works also are included to demonstrate the continued vitality of Native North American cultures. Twenty CMA objects will also appear at the Cleveland venue.
Exhibition highlights include:
+ Shaman's Mask, Tlingit people, Northwest Coast – A magnificently malevolent mask that directly manifests a powerful spirit being who helped a shaman intermediate between the worlds of matter and spirit: an octopus, signaled by sucker disks on the cheeks and the peaked, beak-like mouth.
+ Crane Mask, Yup'ik people, Arctic – This mask, one of the finest that survives, is part of a nearly identical female-male pair that danced together. Each crane strains forward and flutters its wings protectively around a figure on its breast, one a sick shaman and the other perhaps a helper coming to the shaman’s aid. (Cleveland only)
+ Painted Drum, Pawnee people, Plains – Throwing lightning from its beak, a thunderbird dives from black clouds into a threatening yellow sky as a flock of swallows, the storm’s harbingers, scatters like wind-blown leaves. Beneath, in a small center of calm, a man offers a pipe upward. (Cleveland only)
+ Basket, Louisa Keyser (Dat So La Lee), Washoe – A national treasure made by one of the most legendary basketmakers in North America. (Cleveland only)
Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection is organized by the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. This exhibition has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius. The Cleveland Museum of Art is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this exhibition with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
The exhibition is free. Hours are Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
Edward S. Curtis and Zig Jackson photography exhibition
To expand upon Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection, CMA will host a special photography exhibition in the museum’s east wing, drawing upon our complete set (20 bound volumes and 20 accompanying portfolios) of Edward S. Curtis’s landmark publication The North American Indian, which contains more than 2,200 photogravures. Two-thirds of the photography galleries will be devoted to the work of Edward S. Curtis and will feature 30 of his large-scale photogravures. The remainder will house the work of a contemporary Native American photographer, Zig Jackson, with 15 images from his series Tribal Peoples. The exhibition will be on view from February 7 – May 30, 2010.
About the Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes over 40,000 objects and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. Currently undergoing a multi-phase renovation and expansion project, it is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, performing arts, and art education. Admission to the museum has been free since its founding charter.
The Cleveland Museum of Art has a membership of nearly 25,000 households and is supported by a broad range of individuals, foundations, and businesses in Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio. The museum is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Additional support comes from the Ohio Arts Council, which helps fund the museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. For more information on the museum, its holdings, programs, and events, call 1-888-CMA-0033 or visit www.ClevelandArt.org.
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Downloads
Woodlands
Moccasins with Moosehair Embroidery, 1847–53
Wendat (Huron), Quebec
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0038a-b
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor
War Club, about 1620–80
Eastern Woodlands
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0794
Photograph by Richard Walker
Feast Bowl, about 1780
Northeastern Woodlands
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0824
Photograph by Richard Walker
Southwest
Woman’s Dance Manta, about 1915–35
Hopi, Arizona
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0108
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor
Jar with Eagle Tail-Feather Motifs, about 1905
Nampeyo, Hopi, Hano, First Mesa, Arizona, about 1860–1942
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0810
Photograph by Richard Walker
Plains
Shield Cover and Shield, about 1860
Apsáalooke (Crow), Montana
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0048
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor
Woman’s Dress, about 1850
Nimi’ipuu (Nez Perce), Idaho, Oregon or eastern Washington
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0096
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor
Northwest Coast
Headdress Frontlet, about 1840–70
Coast? Tsimshian, north British Columbia
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0177
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor
Potlatch Figure Holding a Copper, about 1880–95
Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), northwest Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0162
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor
California and Great Basin
Gambling Tray, about 1900
Mrs. Dick Francisco (Yokuts, Tule River Reservation, central California, 1857–1953)
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0797
Photograph by Richard Walker
Arctic
Polar Bear Effigy
Ipiutak (ancestral Eskimo) artist, Point Spencer area, Seward Peninsula, Alaska
(about AD 100–600)
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0225
Photograph by Richard Walker
Dance Goggles with Whale’s-Tail Nose
Old Bering Sea Eskimo, Alaska or Siberia
Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., T0811
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor
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