Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952)
View Artist Biography
Title:
President Theodore Roosevelt
Date:
1905
Size:
13 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches
Medium:
Toned Silver Gelatin Photograph
Signed:
L/R
Forward to “The North American Indian”, written by Theodore Roosevelt (Frontice Volume I):
"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. All serious students are to be congratulated because he is putting his work in permanent form; for our generation offers the last chance for doing what Mr. Curtis has done. The Indians as he has hitherto been is on the point of passing away. His life has been lived under conditions thru which our own race past so many ages ago that not a vestige of their memory remains. it would be a veritable calamity if a vivid and truthful record of these conditions was not kept. No one man alone could preserve such a record in complete form. Others have worked in the past and are working in the present, to preserve parts of the record; but Mr. Curtis because of the singular combination 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 has ever done; what, as far as we can see, no other man could do. He is an artist who works out of doors and not in a closet. He is a close observer, whose qualities of mind and body fit him to make his observations out in the field, surrounded by the wild life he commemorates. He has lived on intimate terms with many different tribes of the mountains and the plains. He knows them as they hunt, as they travel, as they go about their various avocations on the march and in camp. He knows their medicine men and their sorcerers, their chiefs and warriors, their young men and maidens. He has not only seen their vigorous outward existence, but has caught glimpses, such as few white men ever catch, into that strange spiritual and mental life of theirs; from whose inner most recesses all white men are forever barred. Mr. Curtis in publishing this book is rendering a real and great service; a service not only to our own people, but to the world of scholarship everywhere."
In 1904, after Curtis won a national portrait contest, President Theodore Roosevelt invited him to his Long Island home, Sagamore Hill, to photograph his children. The men discovered they shared common interests, including a love of the West and a concern over the plight of American Indians. Roosevelt became a champion of Curtis and his work, writing a letter of recommendation that helped the photographer gain the financial support of J. P. Morgan. Roosevelt also penned the foreword to The North American Indian, which he considered "a real and great service . . . Not only to our people, but to the world of scholarship everywhere."
Early in Curtis' photographic career he gained considerable respect as a portrait photographer. So much so, that his work was recognized by President Theodore Roosevelt, who subsequently invited Curtis to take some family photographs on the East coast. Curtis and Roosevelt shared a vision and passion for preservation, and when Curtis started The North American Indian project Roosevelt became a champion of the work, eventually introducing him to J.P. Morgan, who provided considerable financing for the project. Of Curtis Roosevelt said, "Mr. Curtis, because of the singular combination of qualities with which has been blest 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 for we can see, no other man could do."
Rendered in silver gelatin, this print exhibits a warm, sepia hue and is an excellent example, in both tonality and condition, of this image on matte surface paper.
"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. All serious students are to be congratulated because he is putting his work in permanent form; for our generation offers the last chance for doing what Mr. Curtis has done. The Indians as he has hitherto been is on the point of passing away. His life has been lived under conditions thru which our own race past so many ages ago that not a vestige of their memory remains. it would be a veritable calamity if a vivid and truthful record of these conditions was not kept. No one man alone could preserve such a record in complete form. Others have worked in the past and are working in the present, to preserve parts of the record; but Mr. Curtis because of the singular combination 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 has ever done; what, as far as we can see, no other man could do. He is an artist who works out of doors and not in a closet. He is a close observer, whose qualities of mind and body fit him to make his observations out in the field, surrounded by the wild life he commemorates. He has lived on intimate terms with many different tribes of the mountains and the plains. He knows them as they hunt, as they travel, as they go about their various avocations on the march and in camp. He knows their medicine men and their sorcerers, their chiefs and warriors, their young men and maidens. He has not only seen their vigorous outward existence, but has caught glimpses, such as few white men ever catch, into that strange spiritual and mental life of theirs; from whose inner most recesses all white men are forever barred. Mr. Curtis in publishing this book is rendering a real and great service; a service not only to our own people, but to the world of scholarship everywhere."
In 1904, after Curtis won a national portrait contest, President Theodore Roosevelt invited him to his Long Island home, Sagamore Hill, to photograph his children. The men discovered they shared common interests, including a love of the West and a concern over the plight of American Indians. Roosevelt became a champion of Curtis and his work, writing a letter of recommendation that helped the photographer gain the financial support of J. P. Morgan. Roosevelt also penned the foreword to The North American Indian, which he considered "a real and great service . . . Not only to our people, but to the world of scholarship everywhere."
Early in Curtis' photographic career he gained considerable respect as a portrait photographer. So much so, that his work was recognized by President Theodore Roosevelt, who subsequently invited Curtis to take some family photographs on the East coast. Curtis and Roosevelt shared a vision and passion for preservation, and when Curtis started The North American Indian project Roosevelt became a champion of the work, eventually introducing him to J.P. Morgan, who provided considerable financing for the project. Of Curtis Roosevelt said, "Mr. Curtis, because of the singular combination of qualities with which has been blest 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 for we can see, no other man could do."
Rendered in silver gelatin, this print exhibits a warm, sepia hue and is an excellent example, in both tonality and condition, of this image on matte surface paper.