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Qahatika Water Girl

Between 1907 and 1930, Edward S. Curtis photographed hundreds of native Americans from tribes across North America. 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 convey 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.

ArtistEdward Sheriff Curtis, 1868–1952
Date1907
MediumPhotogravure
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2005.28.54
ClassificationPrint
Provenance(William Reese Company, New Haven, CT); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2005
On ViewNo