Anthropological art

Young Chang

The work of Edward Sheriff Curtis is so common, people may not realize

they know it. Some experts say the late artist’s portraits of Native

American tribe members are largely responsible for how we look at Indians

today.

Though experts disagree about how accurate he was in his photo

depictions, Curtis’ intention was clear: to record the vanishing customs

and traditions of Native American life.

From 1905 to 1930, Curtis took more than 2,000 photographs of domestic

environments and architecture during various trips across the country. He

endured demanding circumstances financially and physically during these

travels, but kept on for 25 years. The results comprise his opus book,

“The North American Indian.”

Curtis’ shots of dwelling places -- homes, burial sites, natural

terrain and food caches -- will be on display at the Orange County Museum

of Art today through April 1. The collection, titled “Edward S. Curtis:

Sites and Structures,” is owned by Dan and Mary Solomon of Monarch Beach.

“This is a whole new way of looking at Curtis,” said Dan Solomon, a

commercial real estate broker. “We’re taking an artist everyone thinks

they know and presenting him in a different way.”

While most know Curtis, who died in 1952, for his rather romantic

portraiture of Native American life -- like his portrait of Geronimo --

Solomon said the works in the exhibit are more “straight, front-on and

simple.”

“It’s not about pretty pictures,” he said. “It’s about the softness of

the light.”

Careful study of the 60 photoengravers -- a photographic image

produced from an engraving plate -- shows that Curtis knew the typology

and forms of the dwellings and areas he studied, Solomon said. The images

mix the style of photographs and lithographs.

Many of the photos have a smoky, misty feel to them. Curtis was taught

by the school of pictorialism, a genre characterized by an exotic,

faraway, mysterious style, said Brian Langston, museum spokesman.

The artistic slant to Curtis’ work contributed to arguments that his

photoengravers may not be accurate ethnographic or anthropological

records. Some of the pieces show posed scenes.

Langston said there is a chance some of them may have been altered or,

in some sense, arranged in the composition process. But supporters of

Curtis’ work are grateful that he documented a way of life that was

fading.

“So it’s both anthropology and artistry,” Langston said. “In my

opinion, it does both very well.”

Solomon said Curtis’ work helps people connect with their past.

“Now you have [American] Indians talking about Curtis again -- it’s a

way to see what their ancestors lived in,” he said.

The collection includes pictures of ruins, movable structures,

different styles of homes -- the Pima home and the Yuma home to name a

couple -- villages, ceremonial structures, gardens and burial sites.

“I think housing is a very important theme and subject,” Solomon said.

“Where people chose to live, the types of buildings they lived in, tell a

lot about people. Their adaptability, dignity and architectural skill,

and their spirit comes down to us through pictures.”

FYI

WHAT: Edward S. Curtis: Sites and Structures

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, until April 1.

WHERE: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport

Beach

COST: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, free for members and

children younger than 16.

CALL: (949) 759-1122