Those familiar with the photography of Edward S. Curtis know of his 30-year quest to visually document Native American tribes throughout the United States. A new exhibit offers a rare peek at his work — in color.
The Edward S. Curtis “Picture Opera Show” exhibit opened at the Clymer Museum and Gallery in Ellensburg on Feb. 15 and makes its First Friday Art Walk debut tonight. It features a private collection of hand-colored glass slides that Curtis used for his “Picture Operas” or “Picture Musicales,” which were shows he held at auditoriums around the country, including Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Theatre in Seattle. The shows featured a full orchestra and wax cylinder recordings of Native spoken word.
“The glass slides, which were projected with a Magic Lantern, were hand-colored, as color film had not been invented yet,” said Mia Merendino, museum director. “We have some of the original slides, and a vintage Magic Lantern.”
The slides are small, only a few inches, so the owners of the slides had the images transferred to large canvases.
Seeing Curtis photos in color is a unique experience, Merendino said. “They are visually stunning,” Merendino said of the glass slide images, which have not been seen together in more than 100 years.
Between 1900 and 1930, Curtis traveled and lived among dozens of Native tribes, according to the official website for his work. He photographed the ways of life of more than 80 Native cultures, taking tens of thousands of photos, writing thousands of pages of anthropological text and creating a feature-length film. All culminated in the production of “The North American Indian.”
“There were other photographers of Native Americans at the time, but he covered so much ground. He had this completely ambitious idea to collect images of all Native people,” Merendino said.
“Plus, he did recordings of the languages. He was very concerned that all these things were going to disappear,” she added.
There is controversy surrounding Curtis’ work, Merendino noted. He occasionally removed items from images and mixed up artifacts and outfits to fit his vision, which some say was romanticized.
Still, “he gave Native people a weight and a dignity. There was humanity,” she said. “He talks about their religion in this show.”
Merendino is excited about the exhibit and thinks it will be draw well because of its broad appeal. It’s also a chance to learn, and question if necessary.
“Curtis had a love and respect for Native people. It’s a huge body of work to reflect on and learn from,” she said. “This is such history, and not just Northwest Coastal tribes. It just goes on and on.”
