Edward S. Curtis: Private Client Presentation

EDWARD S. CURTIS PRIVATE CLIENT PRESENTATION

An Oasis in the Badlands - Sioux, 1905 Gelatin Silver Border Print

“It’s such a big dream, I can’t see it all.”

—Edward S. Curtis

Edward S. Curtis, Self-Portrait, 1899

VINTAGE PHOTOGRAVURES

Assiniboin Mother and Child, 1926 Vintage Tissue Photogravure; Portfolio XVIII, Plate 623 Curtis portraits of mothers with their children are scarce, particularly in a large format such as this. This lyrical portrait is set in the northern woodlands, as evidenced by the clothing and the poplar trees in the background. The mother is wearing a beautiful dress with a fully beaded yoke of traditional geometric designs. Her scarf is tied turban style, knotted in front. She wears strings of brass beads with occasional hawk bells interspersed. Her dress is made of leather, side sewn, and fringed. Her baby is swaddled in cotton cloth in a laced carrier. There is only one other large format Curtis mother and child photogravure that includes so much of the subjects environment and sense of context.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on handmade Japanese gampi (“tissue”) paper. Because original purchasers had to pay a substantial premium for a tissue impression, it is estimated that only 10-15% of Curtis’ photogravures were made on this rare hand-made paper. J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, Edward Curtis, and The King of England were among the few who opted for these premium tissue prints. Tissue prints are noted for their subtlety, luminosity, and strength. Gampi papermaking is a millennia old tradition in Japan and the art is often handed down within a family from generation to generation over hundreds of years.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage “tissue” photogravure is in excellent condition. Watermark “Van Gelder Zonen Made in Holland” in lower margin of vintage overmat. Excellent print quality and a fine example of the photogravure process. This photogravure was professionally conserved (washed and de-acidified) to restore it to its original archival state and beauty. This image has appeared in a variety of monographs on Edward Curtis.

PROVENANCE: This print was acquired by Christopher Cardozo for his personal Curtis collection, the world’s largest and most widely published and exhibited Curtis collection. As such, it has highly unusual and desirable provenance. In the past two decades Cardozo has rarely offered prints from his personal collection for sale.

Price: $9,750

Sioux Girl, 1907 Vintage Vellum Photogravure; Portfolio III, Plate 97) This is a compelling, evocative portrait and is unusual for Curtis; he rarely made full length portraits, and then, almost never seated. Curtis’ portraits of women are less prevalent than those of men. There perhaps is no other female portrait that illustrates such extensive beadwork. She wears a full-length deerskin dress with fringe work across the entire bottom. The large dress yoke is extremely heavily beaded in traditional geometric designs. She has a large, fully beaded and fringed pipe bag. Her calf-high moccasins are also heavily and fully beaded. A six-panel bone hair pipes with leather spacers, complement her dress. In all, this is a very beautiful portrait of a Sioux maiden, displaying great wealth and status in an elegant, beautifully lit portrait.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on Japanese Vellum.

This is an expensive handmade paper specifically selected by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project and noted for its smooth surface and fine resolution. The Vellum stock, produced one hundred years ago, is very resistant to contamination and damage and rarely requires conservation.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in excellent overall condition. Ink stamp “The North American Indian, Inc. 437-5th Avenue, New York City.” on print verso. Excellent, rich impression, and a fine example of the photogravure process. This photogravure was professionally conserved (washed and de-acidified) to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

PROVENANCE: This print was acquired by Christopher Cardozo for his personal Curtis collection, the world’s largest and most widely published and exhibited Curtis collection. As such, it has highly unusual and desirable provenance. In the past two decades Cardozo has rarely offered prints from his personal collection for sale.

Price: $6,500

Dusty Dress – Kalispel, 1910 (Printed 1911) Vintage Vellum Photogravure; Portfolio VII, Plate 238 This elegantly dressed young Kalispel woman is garbed in a cape ornamented with cowrie shells and ribbon edging. The braids of her waist length hair are wound with strips of otter fur, and an ermine pelt dangles from each braid. The bands of white on her hair are effected with white clay or gypsum. She is also wearing beautiful abalone disc earrings and a dentalium multi-strand shell choker. She has a necklace of pony beads with leather disk and ermine. She holds a large feather in her right hand. A beautiful portrait, rich in detail.

This vintage photograph has been with Christopher Cardozo Fine Art for over a decade, held for long-term investment. Edward Curtis is the most widely collected fine art photography in the history of the medium, and his work is found in major public and private collections internationally. He has also become the most widely exhibited. His work has moved viewers on every continent but Antarctica. He created an unprecedented body of work, which has won awards and accolades internationally. While the project nearly drove him into bankruptcy and cost him his health and family, today the aggregate value of the photographs he created exceeds one half of a billion dollars.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in excellent condition. Excellent, rich impression, and a fine example of the photogravure process. This original vintage photogravure is printed on Japanese Vellum. This is an expensive handmade paper specifically selected by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project and noted for its smooth surface and fine resolution. The Vellum stock, produced one hundred years ago, is very resistant to contamination and damage and rarely requires conservation.

Price: $5,000

Black Belly – Cheyenne, 1927 Vintage Van Gelder Photogravure; Portfolio XIX, Plate 671 PRINT BACKGROUND: This original photogravure is in excellent condition. Watermark “VAN GELDER ZONEN MADE IN HOLLAND” in left margin.

It is an excellent impression, a fine example of the photogravure process. This photogravure was professionally conserved (washed and de-acidified) to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on a fine Dutch Van Gelder etching stock, handmade in Holland one hundred years ago. This is an expensive, heavyweight, etching stock selected by Curtis and J.P. Morgan specifically for Curtis’ North American Indian project.

Price: $4,000

Cheyenne Girl, 1905 Vintage Tissue Photogravure; Portfolio VI, Plate 212 PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in overall excellent condition.

Watermark “VAN GELDER ZONEN MADE IN HOLLAND” in right margin of overmat. Excellent ink impression.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on Japanese Gampi (“tissue”). This is the rarest and most expensive of the three original etching stocks used by Curtis. Only J.P. Morgan and a few others paid the substantial premium to get the tissue edition.

Tissue is noted for its subtlety, luminosity, and strength. This print has been professionally conserved (washed and de-acidified) and will last for several hundred years, or more, if properly cared for.

Price: $3,900

Flathead Camp on the Jocko River, 1910 Vintage Tissue Photogravure; Portfolio VII, Plate 232 The scene depicts a camp among the tall pines in western Montana, with the majestic Rocky Mountains rising abruptly in the background. The Flatheads, a small tribe, occupied a mountainous area in the cultural-geographic region commonly known as the Plateau. This intimate, dramatic camp scene with the massive pines, picturesque mountains, and luminous sky exemplifies Curtis’ fine and evocative landscape work. The beauty and luminosity inherent in this image are well realized in this photogravure on rare Japanese gampi “tissue” print stock.

Japanese gampi (“tissue”) paper is the rarest and most expensive of the three original paper stocks chosen by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project. Only Morgan and a few others paid the substantial premium to get the rare tissue edition. Tissue prints are noted for their subtlety, luminosity, and strength. Gampi papermaking is a millennia old tradition in Japan and the art is often handed down within a family from generation to generation over hundreds of years.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in excellent condition. The historic Van Gelder watermark is in upper margin of vintage overmat. Excellent, rich impression, and a fine example of the photogravure process. This photogravure was professionally washed and de-acidified) to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

PROVENANCE: This print was acquired by Christopher Cardozo for his personal Curtis collection, the world’s largest and most widely published and exhibited Curtis collection. As such, it has highly unusual and desirable provenance. In the past two decades Cardozo has rarely offered prints from his personal collection for sale.

Price: $8,450

Apsaroke Medicine Tipi, 1905 Vintage Tissue Photogravure; Portfolio IV, Plate 141 The Apsaroke medicine-men usually painted their lodges according to visions received while fasting and supplicating their spirits. This huge lodge (approximately 18’ tall with 25’ lodge poles) was painted dark red, with an inverted crescent moon and a stylized prow style peace pipe adorned with feathers on the covering.

Curtis stated that no Native person would so decorate his lodge without explicit instructions received in such a vision. This medicine-man’s importance is also evidenced by his extraordinary regalia: full war bonnet with eagle feathers, heavily beaded and fringed war shirt, and beaded leggings.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage “tissue” photogravure is in excellent condition. Excellent print quality and a fine example of the photogravure process. This photogravure was professionally conserved (washed and de-acidified) to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on handmade Japanese gampi (“tissue”) paper. This is the rarest and most expensive of the three original paper stocks chosen by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project. Only Morgan and a few others paid the substantial premium to get the rare tissue edition. Tissue prints are noted for their subtlety, luminosity, and strength. Gampi papermaking is a millennia old tradition in Japan and the art is often handed down within a family from generation to generation over hundreds of years.

Price: $6,500

Coups Well-Known – Apsaroke, 1908 Vintage Tissue Photogravure; Portfolio IV, Plate 144 Coups Well-Known was born in 1859. He was a Mountain Crow; Fox organization. His name was given to him at birth. He received medicine of the buffalo bull from his father, Crazy Head, who obtained it from Chokopsh, a noted war-leader of a former generation. This strong male portrait has an usually emotive expression, which evidences both pride and dignity as he gazes in the distance.

A seasoned warrior, Coups Well-Known, was also a highly respected elder.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on handmade Japanese gampi (“tissue”) paper. Because original purchasers had to pay a substantial premium for a tissue impression, it is estimated that only 10-15% of Curtis’ photogravures were made on this rare hand-made paper. J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, Edward Curtis, and The King of England were among the few who opted for these premium tissue prints. Tissue prints are noted for their subtlety, luminosity, and strength. Gampi papermaking is a millennia old tradition in Japan and the art is often handed down within a family from generation to generation over hundreds of years.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in very good overall condition. Excellent, rich impression, and a fine example of the photogravure process. This photogravure was professionally conserved (washed and de-acidified) to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

Price: $7,150

In Black Canon – Apsaroke, 1905 Vintage Tissue Photogravure; Portfolio IV, Plate 136 PRINT BACKGROUND: This original photogravure is in excellent condition. Very minor creasing at the corners of vintage overmat. It is an excellent impression, a fine example of the photogravure process. This photogravure was professionally washed and deacidified to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on handmade Japanese gampi (“tissue”) paper. This is the rarest and most expensive of the three original paper stocks chosen by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project. Only Morgan and a few others paid the substantial premium to get the rare tissue edition.

Tissue prints are noted for their subtlety, luminosity, and strength.

Gampi papermaking is a millennia old tradition in Japan and the art is often handed down within a family from generation to generation over hundreds of years.

Price: $6,500

Kashhila – Wishham, 1909 Vintage Tissue Photogravure; Portfolio VIII, Plate 283 This young Chinookan Indian of the Plateau gazes directly into the camera with an open expression. He wears his hair in a pompadour, has fur wrapped braids, a multi-stranded shell (“hishi”) choker with a large conch shell and brass center disc, a beaded buckskin shirt, and a ribbon and mirror-adorned fur sash/mantle over his left shoulder. He wears metal hoop earrings and an eagle feather.

In all, an elegant portrait of a young Native American man.

This vintage photogravure is in excellent overall condition.

Shallow, minor 1” crease at lower left portion of image, visible only in raking light. There is minor adhesive residue in upper corners on the reverse side of the print. Watermark, “Van Gelder Zonen”, in left margin of vintage overmat. Excellent ink impression. This photogravure was professionally washed and de-acidified to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on handmade Japanese gampi (“tissue”) paper. This is the rarest and most expensive of the three original paper stocks chosen by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project. Only Morgan and a few others paid the substantial premium to get the rare tissue edition.

Tissue prints are noted for their subtlety, luminosity, and strength.

Gampi papermaking is a millennia old tradition in Japan and the art is often handed down within a family from generation to generation over hundreds of years.

Price: $5,850

Little Hawk – Sioux, 1907 Vintage Vellum Photogravure; Portfolio III, Plate 89 This portrait of Little Hawk, a Brule Sioux, exemplifies Curtis’ classic Pictorialist aesthetic. Curtis was not only a gifted artist and craftperson, he was also a noted art theorist. He adopted the Pictorialist aesthetic early in his career and wrote about the movement in journals of the day. To achieve the aesthetic impact he desired, Curtis narrowed this image to create a highly elongated format and softened the resolution and detail in the lower portion of the image. All this was done to minimize the documentary details and to emphasize the emotional and aesthetic aspects of this image.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in excellent condition. There is a very minor handling crease in the lower left corner of the print margin, not effecting the image area, visible primarily in raking light.

Excellent, rich impression, and a fine example of the photogravure process.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on Japanese Vellum.

This is an expensive handmade paper specifically selected by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project and noted for its smooth surface and fine resolution. The Vellum stock, produced one hundred years ago, is very resistant to contamination and damage and rarely requires conservation.

Price: $5,550

Placating the Spirit of a Slain Eagle – Assiniboin, 1926 Vintage Vellum Photogravure; Portfolio XVIII, Plate 634) This powerful portrait of a Northern Plains subject shows him performing a ceremony for a slain eagle. The eagle has great significance and power for Native Americans. Among other things, it symbolizes strength, endurance and vision. Their feathers, beaks, talons and wing bones were used as ornaments, fetishes and ceremonial objects. After an eagle was slain, an elaborate ceremony took place over the eagle’s body to placate the eagle spirits, as is depicted in this photograph. Eagles were believed to have been chosen by the creator to be masters of the skies and messengers to other creatures. The subject holds a golden eagle in his left hand and a ceremonial rawhide rattle with fringe in his right hand. He wears a bear claw and tooth necklace, with a full set of claws and four incisors. A deerskin blanket covers his legs.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on Japanese Vellum.

This is an expensive handmade paper specifically selected by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project and noted for its smooth surface and fine resolution. The Vellum stock, produced one hundred years ago, is very resistant to contamination and damage and rarely requires conservation.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in excellent overall condition. Excellent, rich impression, and a fine example of the photogravure process. This photogravure was professionally conserved (washed and de-acidified) to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

Price: $7,500

Tearing Lodge – Piegan, 1910 Vintage Tissue Photogravure; Portfolio VI, Plate 187 This is a majestic portrait of a respected Piegan warrior, Tearing Lodge. He was born in 1835 in what is now known as northern Montana. A wise elder, he was a valuable source of information for Curtis. The bison skin cap is a part of his war dress, and was made and worn specifically at the command of a spirit, and communicated in a ceremonial vision. The cap has eagle feathers on top and eagle-down in the front. His unshorn hair is worn loose and he wears a deerskin or horsehair robe.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in excellent overall condition. Minor area of cockling (waviness), common in tissue photogravures, in the right print margin, visible primarily in raking light. Historic “Van Gelder Zonen” watermark in the right margin of the vintage overmat. This photogravure was professionally washed and deacidified to restore it to its original archival state and beauty.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on handmade Japanese gampi (“tissue”) paper. This is the rarest and most expensive of the three original paper stocks chosen by Curtis and J.P. Morgan for Curtis’ North American Indian project. Only Morgan and a few others paid the substantial premium to get the rare tissue edition.

Tissue prints are noted for their subtlety, luminosity, and strength.

Gampi papermaking is a millennia old tradition in Japan and the art is often handed down within a family from generation to generation over hundreds of years.

Price: $9,750

Ogalala Girls, 1907 Vintage vellum Photogravure; Portfolio III, Plate 96 PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage photogravure is in excellent condition. There is a minor, 3”(7.6cm) crease at the upper right margin edge. There are a few very minor handling marks in margin & image, visible only in raking light. Ink stamp “The North American Indian, Inc. 437 Fifth Avenue. New York City” on verso. Excellent ink impression.

This original vintage photogravure is printed on Japanese Vellum.

This is an expensive hand-made paper selected by Curtis and noted for its hard surface and fine resolution. This print has been professionally washed and de-acidified (a $300-$350 value) and will last for several hundred years, or more, if properly cared for.

PROVENANCE: This unique Edward. S. Curtis print was part of a small collection created specifically for one of Curtis’ most prominent and important representatives. The representative, and original owner of this collection, Col. Henry Harrison Sheets, a direct descendant of two U.S. presidents (Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Harrison), was a notable figure in his own right. Sheets used this print as part of a small collection when making personal, high-level presentations to prospective subscribers to Curtis’ magnum opus, The North American Indian. Because the subscriptions were the lifeblood of the twenty-five year publishing project, clearly Curtis and Sheets would have used great care in selecting this print. This print was purchased directly from the family in 2005.

Price: $4,000

Flathead Camp, 1910 $ 3,250

By the River - Flathead, 1910 $ 5,200

Village of the Kalispel, 1910 $ 1,300

Kalispel Scene, 1910 $ 1,300

On Spokane River, 1910 $ 7,150

Kutenai Girls, 1910 $ 2,340

The Moose Hunter - Cree, 1926 $ 1,950

On the Shore of the Lake - Kutenai, 1908 $ 2,340

“...Edward Curtis’s project was unique for its time in that it was conceived as an attempt to bridge that gap between the two worlds. His purpose in making The North American Indian was to represent, as completely as possible, his vision of a network of cultures that was being inexorably destroyed -- to do so in such a way as to render vividly what he believed to be the spirit of those cultures, thus helping to keep it alive...”

— A.D. Coleman

“Some years ago I purchased a Curtis photograph of Plains Indians on horseback, moving with travois across an immense landscape of grasses. …I had not seen the photograph before. It struck me with such force that tears came to my eyes. I felt that I was looking into a memory in my blood…There is a quality to the image, the composition, the invisible plane beyond the surface of the scene that is ineffable. It is a quality that informs the greatest art, and it is the standard in the Curtis photographs…”

—N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize Winning Author

Cree Tipis, 1926 $ 1,300

Photograph by Edward Curtis, c. 1905

“In Mr. Curtis we have both an artist and a trained observer, whose pictures are pictures, not merely photographs; Whose work has far more than mere accuracy, because it is truthful...he is putting his work in permanent form; for our generation offers the last chance for doing what Mr. Curtis has done... But Mr. Curtis, because of the singular combina- tion of qualities with which he has been blessed, and because of his extraordinary success in making and using his opportunities, has been able to do what no other man ever has done; what, as far as we can see, no other man could do.””

—President Theodore Roosevelt

VINTAGE MASTER PRINTS

An Oasis in the Badlands – Sioux, 1905 Vintage Gelatin Silver Print (Also printed as a photogravure; Portfolio III, Plate 80) 7 5/8” x 9 1/2” This gelatin silver print is an extremely rare “Border Print”. Curtis created the toned borders in the darkroom as an aesthetic element to enhance the print presentation. The duo-tone border is integrated with the image on a single sheet of photographic paper.

It is estimated that fewer than 1 in 500 vintage Curtis prints are Border prints. Curtis rarely made exhibition quality silver prints, adding to the rarity and desirability of this photograph. This iconic Curtis image was made in the heart of the Badlands of South Dakota. The subject is Red Hawk, the Dakota sub-chief who was born 1854. He participated in his first war party in 1865, with Crazy Horse, against U.S. army troops. He was a fierce warrior and ultimately engaged in 20 battles, including the Custer fight in 1876.

Red Hawk is majestic as he sits astride his white stallion, while it drinks from a small pool on a vast prairie in the Badlands. He wears a full war bonnet of eagle feathers, a beautifully beaded and fringed war-shirt, beaded leggings, and heavily beaded moccasins.

He carries a carbine and his horse wears large eagle feathers both on its mane and forelock. The image and the subject project an unusual combination of strength and calmness in the dramatic, iconic landscape. This is one of the warmest, richest prints of this iconic image known to exist. This image has appeared in numerous Curtis books and has been exhibited internationally.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage gelatin silver photograph is from the personal collection of Christopher Cardozo and is printed on heavy double-weight paper and is in excellent condition. The original ink signature remains crisp and strong. This is one of the warmest, richest, and most beautiful impressions of this iconic Curtis image that Cardozo has seen in his forty years of collecting.

PROVENANCE: This print was acquired by Christopher Cardozo for his personal Curtis collection, the world’s largest and most widely published and exhibited Curtis collection. As such, it has highly unusual and desirable provenance. In the past two decades Cardozo has rarely offered prints from his personal collection for sale.

Price: $18,000

Young Plateau Woman (Unpublished), 1907 Vintage Platinum Print This young woman wears a beautifully decorated cape over a fulllength fringed and beaded buckskin dress. The cape has extensive beadwork and numerous cowrie shells adorning it. She wears massive bone hair pipes with hawk bells and a beaded headband.

She holds a large owl feather and has beaded moccasins. This is a very unusual portrait for Curtis in that the subject is shown fulllength and in the outdoors. It retains a strong ink signature and is on a rare, de-bossed original mount. In all, a highly desirable print.

This luminous platinum print was not produced as a photogravure and this is the only example Christopher Cardozo has seen in his forty years of collecting. The negative is not known to exist, so this print may be the only evidence of that negative that survives.

The beauty and luminosity of this platinum print combined with the fact that it is most likely unique make it very desirable for a sophisticated collector.

PRINT BACKGROUND: This vintage platinum print is in excellent condition. The original mount has small creases and minor paper loss at the lower corners, which do not effect the actual print. Print quality is excellent and the original ink signature remains strong and crisp.

Price: $8,500

“I like a man who attempts the impossible.”

—J.P. Morgan

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles…The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…who does actually strive to do the deeds…and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

—President Theodore Roosevelt

Fair Market Valuation of Edward S. Curtis Photographs KEY FACTORS I. CORE DETERMINANTS OF VALUE 1. The artist 2. The image (aesthetic value and/or demand) 3. Print quality 4. Print condition 5. Size 6. Medium and/or process 7. Rarity II. SECONDARY FACTORS AFFECTING VALUE 1.

Signature, if any 2.

Importance of collector or collection from which the print is coming.

3.

General provenance 4.

Exhibition history, if any 5.

Publication history, if any 6.

Importance of the image within artist’s oeuvre 7.

Presentation (on original mount, in original frame, etc.)

8.

Broader photography and art markets 9.

Bibliophile market 10. Event–driven shifts in demand/value (major movie, book, etc.)

11. Paradigm shift (environmental movement, etc.)

12. Reputation or expertise of seller 13. Was the print made by artist? Under their supervision? Posthumous print? Etc. 14. Market maker(s) 15. Clear title 16. Currency/Exchange rates

Sioux Girl, 1907