Changing Perspectives of Native Americans , November 7, 2015 - 2016
Scope and Contents
Materials include master checklists; exhibition design materials; installation images; and publications pertainting to exhibitions organized and hosted by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2015.
Dates
- November 7, 2015 - 2016
Conditions Governing Use
Images in this collection are either protected by copyright or are the property of CBMAA.
For requests to license high resolution art images, please contact reproductions@crystalbridges.org.
For requests to license high resolution installation images, please contact library@crystalbridges.org.
Exhibition Summary
The artworks in this focused exhibition—created by both European and Euro-American artists—reflected shifting attitudes toward Native Americans over the course of the nineteenth century. The very earliest images are documentary: recording characteristics and customs of the native residents of North America. In the wake of Indian Removal after 1830, the documentary emphasis grew into more romantic renderings, shaped by the idea of the “Noble Savage” who lived in nature beyond civilization’s corrupting influences. Imbued with classical attributes inspired by Greek and Roman sculpture, Native Americans in American art were not only ennobled, but also framed as America’s ancient and wild counterpart to Europe’s founding civilizations. By the late nineteenth century, when Native populations had been forced onto reservations and their traditional tribal identities largely suppressed, artists responded with a nostalgia for the past and tried to recapture what they considered the exotic and romantic lifestyles of Native Americans in picturesque images of a past untouched by the present.
Extent
From the Class: In progress Linear Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Access note
Installation images are currently unavailable for this series.
Repository Details
Part of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Archives Repository
600 Museum Way
Bentonville AR 72712 United States
(479) 418-5748
library@crystalbridges.org