Spotted Bull - Mandan
Between 1907 and 1930, Edward S. Curtis photographed hundreds of Native Americans from tribes across the United States. Curtis’s stated goal was documentary: “to catalogue how Indians lived prior to contact with the white man,” yet he found his subjects living primarily on reservations. His romantic, pictorial style and sepia-toned printing conveys nostalgia for the past, which appealed to audiences of the time. Despite the staged nature of some of his photographs, Curtis’s work remains an important record of individuals such as Spotted Bull, a member of the Mandan tribe.
ArtistEdward Sheriff Curtis, 1868–1952
Date1908
MediumPhotogravure
Dimensions24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2005.28.149
ClassificationPrint
Provenance(William Reese Company, New Haven, CT); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2005
On ViewNo
This artwork's face covers about 66× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.