Vanishing Race, Navajo
Edward Sheriff Curtis, Vanishing Race, Navajo, 1904, orotone, Gift of Fae Heath Batten, public domain, 94.33.2
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Vanishing Race, Navajo
- Artist
- Date
1904
- Medium
orotone
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
10 5/8 in x 13 3/4 in
- Collection Area
Photography; Northwest Art
- Category
Photographs
- Object Type
photograph
- Culture
American
- Credit Line
Gift of Fae Heath Batten
- Accession Number
94.33.2
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Among the tens of thousands of photographs featuring Native Americans that Edward Sheriff Curtis made in the first three decades of the twentieth century, The Vanishing Race, Navajo is one of the most widely recognized. The softly focused, picturesque composition romanticizes the stark plight of Native American peoples, who were systematically removed from their land and stripped of their customs, languages, and religion during centuries of forced assimilation. By 1900, many Americans looked upon Native populations with nostalgia, collecting artifacts and images of a “vanishing race” that was considered fated to surrender to Western culture.
- Exhibitions
2011 One Woman’s Legacy: Selections from the Fae Heath Batten Photography Bequest Portland Art Museum
