THE AMERICAN INDIAN OBSERVED:

Sketches and Documents From the Collections of
the Archives of American Art 

 Blockprint “Comanche Dance" by Dorothy Newkirk Stewart
from the book Handbook of Indian Dances
               Dorothy Newkirk Stewart papers, Archives of American Art           

An online exhibition in honor of the Smithsonian Institution's
American Indian Heritage Month, November 1999.

Introduction | Sketches and Documents, Arranged by Artist | Additional Resources

INTRODUCTION

Having amassed over thirteen million items since its founding in 1954, the Archives of American Art is the world's largest repository of material relating to American art and artists. The professional and personal papers of artists, dealers, critics, and art historians; the institutional records of art galleries, museums, socieities and other organizations; and a thriving Oral History Program, all provide documentation on a wide  variety of artistic styles, movements, and periods.

Entry from George Catlin's Indian Notebook No. 7, containing English translations of Indian words

Found among the Archives' collections are many containing artists' depictions of   the American Indian. While the work of artists like George Catlin, W. Langdon Kihn, and Dorothy Newkirk Stewart all look different, they, and the work of other artists represented in this display, are united in one respect: their subject matter came from life. Whether through sketchbooks and notes, or works of art, the following selections are testaments to the power of observation.

 

Elizabeth Botten

          Archives Reference Staff

SELECTED SKETCHES AND DOCUMENTS, ARRANGED BY ARTIST
Click on image or name to see the full entry for each artist

George Catlin	Willard Metcalf	Charles Humphriss

Olive Rush	Allen Tupper True	Dorothy Newkirk Stewart

W. Langdon Kihn	Edwin Willard Deming

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