Edward Sheriff Curtis (American, 1868-1952). "A Comanche Mother" Portfolio plate no. 685. Large format supplementary plate for "The North American Indian" v. 19 from copyright photograph 1927 by E.S. Curtis. Photogravure produced in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Suffolk Engraving Company. An endearing portrait of mother and child titled "A Comanche Mother" by Edward Curtis. "A Comanche Mother" was part of Edward Curtis' epic 20 volume project to document Native Americans threatened by Westward expansion in the United States entitled "The North American Indian" (1907-1930) - a masterwork that experts have estimated would cost more than $35 million to create today. Here, both figures gaze directly outward, confronting the viewer. The striking composition and intimacy of the figures invites us to explore the complexity of the Comanche's family dynamics, cultural traditions, and their context. Size of plate: 12.5" W x 17.5" H (31.8 cm x 44.4 cm); of frame: 19.75" W x 25.75" H (50.2 cm x 65.4 cm)

To learn more about Curtis' impressive undertaking, please read Gilbert King's article in Smithsonian Magazine. It opens as follows, with King brilliantly capturing Curtis' urgency and steadfast work ethic to document the indigenous peoples before expansion would potentially eclipse their cultures, "Year after year, he packed his camera and supplies?everything he?d need for months?and traveled by foot and by horse deep into the Indian territories. At the beginning of the 20th century, Edward S. Curtis worked in the belief that he was in a desperate race against time to document, with film, sound and scholarship, the North American Indian before white expansion and the federal government destroyed what remained of their natives? way of life. For thirty years, with the backing of men like J. Pierpont Morgan and former president Theodore Roosevelt, but at great expense to his family life and his health, Curtis lived among dozens of native tribes, devoting his life to his calling until he produced a definitive and unparalleled work, The North American Indian. The New York Herald hailed as 'the most ambitious enterprise in publishing since the production of the King James Bible.'" ("Edward Curtis? Epic Project to Photograph Native Americans" by Gilbert King - Smithsonian Magazine March 21, 2012)

While Curtis has had his critics who have claimed that he romanticized the natives' existence, others have argued that he was ahead of his time and depicted them with dignity and respect. In her book entitled, "Shadow Catcher: The Life and Work of Edward S. Curtis" (Bison Books, 2005) Laurie Lawlor wrote, "When judged by the standards of his time, Curtis was far ahead of his contemporaries in sensitivity, tolerance and openness to Native American cultures and ways of thinking. He sought to observe and understand by going directly into the field."

Inscriptions below image: "Comanche Mother" AND "From copyright photograph 1927 by E.S. Curtis" AND "Photogravure Suffolk Eng. Co. Cambridge, Mass."

Photogravures of "A Comanche Mother" also produced by Suffolk Engraving have been collected by the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1971-117-39(685)), the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (P2009.3.19.2.34), the Saint Louis Art Museum (550:1996), and the Northwestern University Library ("A Comanche Mother").

Provenance: private Brighton, Colorado, USA collection

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#185382

Mounted under glass in custom museum-quality matte and frame. Photogravure has not been examined outside the frame but appears to be in very nice condition. "Comanche Mother" AND "From copyright photograph 1927 by E.S. Curtis" AND "Photogravure Suffolk Eng. Co. Cambridge, Mass." printed below image. Some tearing to gallery paper on verso of frame, but it is otherwise excellent and fit with suspension wire for display.