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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
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
4Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
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
5Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
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
6Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
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
7Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
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
8Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
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
9Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
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
10Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
Selected Images
Geronimo - Apache, 1905 Platinum print
11Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
Vintage Curtis Studio Sticker
Original Curtis Picture Musicale Poster
Puget Sound Baskets, 1912 Photogravure
12Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
Shot in the Hand - Apsaroke, 1908 Photogravure
Hashogan-Navaho, 1904 Platinum print
13Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
Housetop Life, 1906 Platinum print
Tapa “Antelope Water”-Taos, 1903 Platinum print
14Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
Waiting in the Forest - Cheyenne, 1910 Photogravure
Untitled (Moki Girl and Jar) Platinum print
15Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
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
16Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
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
17Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography EdwardS.Curtis
Cañon de Chelly - Navaho, 1904 Photogravure
“It’s such a big dream, I can’t see it all” —Edward S. Curtis