Outsider, Folk, Contemporary & Fine Art

CURTIS, Edward Sheriff (American, 1868-1952). The Vanishing Race - Navaho. [1908]. Platinum print laid to board. Signed lower right. Blindstamp copyrighted E.S. Curtis / Seattle. Image was Plate 1 in Curtis’ Portfolio 1, “The North American Indian, Vol. 1. The Apache. The Jicarillas. The Navaho.” Image: 10 x 13”. Mat: 18 ½ x 20 ½”. Very good condition. This image is considered one of Curtis’ classic/signature pieces, illustrative of the core conceptual underpinning of his entire thirty-year project. Curtis describes the image in Volume 1 as follows:”The thought which this picture is meant to convey is that the Indians as a race, already shorn in their tribal strength and stripped of their primitive dress, are passing into the darkness of an unknown future. Feeling that the picture expresses so much of the thought that inspired the entire work, the author has chosen it as the first of the series.” All proceeds benefit the Howard L. Gottlieb Foundation, which has been supporting nonprofit organizations in the fine arts since 2015.