PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
This summer Valley Fine Art is presenting an exceptional collection of original goldtone photographs by master photographer and ethnographer of the North American Indian, Edward S. Curtis.
The sixteen-piece collection is comprised of Curtis’ most iconic imagery—An Oasis In The Badlands, The Vanishing Race, A Son Of The Desert (a goldtone so rare that only one example appears in an extensive compilation of public auction records going back nearly forty years). Every other goldtone in the collection is of similar virtue.
The collection encompasses goldtones of every size the Curtis Studio commercially produced, from eight- by ten-inch goldtones to fourteen- by seventeen-inch goldtones. And, they are remarkably consistent in their superb print quality and extraordinary physical condition. Every print is housed in an original Curtis Studio frame.
The goldtone process was pioneered and popularized by Curtis, immediately recognizable as his signature work. It consists of printing a photograph on a glass plate which is then backed with a fine gold metallic emulsion. The sixteen goldtones at Valley Fine Art have survived the last one hundred and ten years close to perfectly or as perfectly as when they were produced. They are incredibly luminous, multi-dimensional photographic objects.
Edward Curtis’ photographs have featured prominently in the Aspen art scene for decades. The current collection of Edward Curtis goldtones at Valley Fine Art is unsurpassed by any previous exhibition. The combination of imagery, quality, and condition makes this body of goldtones unique in the fine art photography market and an irreplaceable opportunity for collectors—it would be impossible to recreate the collection on offer.
Mia Valley is a principal consultant/curator to many of the most important private Edward Curtis collections worldwide. Valley has built collections focused exclusively on goldtones—one such collection numbed forty-four pieces. In 2005, Valley was retained to catalogue and value the entire Edward Curtis estate. Valley serves as a trusted advisor for several major public institutions, including the Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. As welcome guests at Valley Fine Art, clients have access to one of the largest and finest holdings of original Edward S. Curtis photographs available today.