This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/26/2024
CURTIS, Edward Sheriff (American, 1868-1952). The Three Chiefs. [Seattle, ca. 1900]. Orotone in period Curtis frame. Signed lower right with copyright symbol lower left. Label affixed verso reads: “The Three Chiefs / A Blackfoot picture on the prairies of Montana. Rarely do we see a picture which renders so well the spirit of the prairies and plains of the great northwest. / The old plainmen on looking at it would exclaim ‘I feel the wind on my face and see the grass waving, swaying and shutting my eyes. I can almost see the buffalo filing down to drink from the slow flowing water.’ “ Image appeared as Plate 209 in Portfolio 6, “The North American Indian, Vol. 6. The Piegan. The Cheyenne. The Arapaho.” Image 11x 14”; frame: 16 x 18 ¾”. Very good condition. Not examined out of frame. On orotones, Edward Curtis is often quoted saying, “The ordinary photographic print, however good, lacks depth and transparency, or more strictly speaking, translucency. We all know how beautiful are the stones and pebbles in the limpid brook of the forest where the water absorbs the blue of the sky and the green of the foliage, yet when we take the same iridescent pebbles from the water and dry them they are dull and lifeless, so it is with the orthodox photographic print, but in the [goldtone] all the transparency is retained and they are as full of life and sparkle as an opal.” — Edward S. Curtis. All proceeds benefit the Howard L. Gottlieb Foundation, which has been supporting nonprofit organizations in the fine arts since 2015. Third party shipping required.