Edward Curtis (American, 1868-1952). "At the Old Well of Acoma" gelatin silver border print with Curtis Studio label on verso, ca. 1904. In this piece - entitled "At the Old Well of Acoma" - Curtis presents three Acoma women water carriers - two taking a rest on shore with their pottery vessels placed before them in the sand, while the third woman is filling her vessel in the well. The trio is surrounded by breathtaking New Mexican scenery, with rocky cliffs framing the waters. Edward Curtis created an epic 20 volume project to document Native Americans threatened by Westward expansion in the United States that was entitled "The North American Indian" (1907-1930). It was a masterwork that experts have estimated would cost more than $35 million to create today. Size of image: 5.5" L x 7.5" W (14 cm x 19 cm) Size of frame: 9.25" L x 11.3" W (23.5 cm x 28.7 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."

This photograph was in the esteemed collection of Ginny Williams, a pioneering patron of the arts in Denver, Colorado. Sotheby's hosted a series of auctions featuring art and photography in the Ginny Williams Collection in June and July of 2020. Their press release began as follows, "Born in rural Virginia in 1927, Ginny moved to Denver, Colorado in the late 1950s with her husband, Carl Williams. An avid photographer herself, who studied with Austrian-American photojournalist and photographer Ernst Haas, her collecting journey began with classical figurative photography. Her passion and keen eye eventually prompted her to open her namesake gallery in Denver in the 1980s. While her passion for photography never waned, remaining a primary focus of both her gallery and private collection, her voracious curiosity quickly widened her curatorial focus. Over time, Ginny became increasingly courageous and experimental in her selections, venturing into Abstract Expressionism and Contemporary Art and following her artists themselves through gallery shows and museum exhibitions. As the years passed, Ginny became as much of a trailblazer as the artists she collected."

Of note: An Edward Curtis "At the Old Well of Acoma" silver border print of the same size sold for $2,250 at Swann Galleries (April 18, 2019 - Sale 2506 - Lot 4)

Provenance: private Idledale, Colorado, USA collection

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#174096

This gelatin silver border print has not been examined outside the frame but appears to have age wear, staining, some waviness, and a small lifted area to the right of the woman filling her vessel with water. Frame is likely contemporary with the image and shows normal surface wear commensurate with age. Tears, perforations, and losses to the gallery paper on the verso, but the attached Curtis Studio label is still legible, albeit with a few tears, scuffs, and loss to upper right corner commensurate with age. There is also a Ginny Williams Collection label on the verso. Fitted with suspension hardware.