New Boone Gallery exhibition explores how Europeans and Americans have depicted Indians in Art

When early Hollywood filmmakers first began producing Westerns, they turned to the art of previous centuries to determine how Indians and their lifestyle should be portrayed on the silver screen. Through the power of popular culture, those images—often based on the work of European artists—have become iconic, affecting how we perceive and understand Native American culture to this day. In recognition of the 400th anniversary of the meeting of European and Native American peoples in Jamestown, Va., a new exhibition at The Huntington looks at how North American Indians have been depicted in art from the 1500s through the 1800s. “Legacy and Legend: Images of Indians from Four Centuries” opens June 9 and continues through Sept. 2 in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery.

“For centuries, European-trained artists created art for audiences that knew little about Indians, and so their images often romanticized them and focused on the more dramatic,” says guest curator Kathryn Hight. As artists capitalized on new printing technologies and a growing demand for prints and illustrated books, they worked to make their pieces marketable by depicting the more colorful aspects of Indian culture: unusual clothing and adornment, ritual ceremonies, and dangerous activities such as buffalo hunting. This selective view created a skewed interpretation of Indian life, Hight notes. “As artists and craftsmen struggled to interpret what they had seen and learned into forms acceptable to non-Indian markets, they grafted the new images onto the traditions with which they and their audiences were familiar. Their interpretations inevitably distorted perceptions of Indian life, resulting in early forms of docudrama. An American visual epic was being made.”

“Artists focused on native American men as exotic and grand, living freely in nature, unconstrained by government or religion”

What perhaps is most remarkable about the depictions is how little they changed over time. Certain themes persist: Men, for instance, often were depicted as hunters and warriors, and rarely as the farmers and family men they were likely to be. “Artists focused on native American men as exotic and grand, living freely in nature, unconstrained by government or religion,” says Hight. “Women are hardly seen, even though many tribes were matrilineal and women held important roles in government.”

In the end, these frontier artists provided a legacy of images that ultimately influenced the way Native Americans are portrayed, even today. Indians in art and movies are shown in colorful, decorative clothing, with paint and jewelry. Indian dress, which included comfortable shoes and little clothing at all in hot, humid summers—a stark contrast to the straitlaced and constrained European-style clothing—was often misinterpreted as scandalous rather than as practical.

George Catlin, “Indian Hunting Buffalo.” Hand-colored lithographic print, from Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio, 1844. Huntington Library

In the 19th century, artists like George Catlin and Edward Curtis saw their work as preserving cultures in decline, and they often shows Indians dressed from past eras in settings created by the artist’s imagination. While artists depicted Indian life as immutable, by the early part of the 20th century Indian life had changed markedly, adapting in the wake of European settlement. “It was a much more complicated picture than many artists were willing to portray,” says Hight.

The exhibition will feature rare material drawn almost entirely from The Huntington’s collections, including what is believed to be the first image depicting Indians in a woodcut that accompanied an account of Columbus’ western hemisphere landing, published in 1495. Also on view will be the first lithograph of an Indian by Swiss artist Peter Rindisbacher; stunning portraits published by Thomas McKenny and James Hall in their History of the Indian Tribes of North America (1836-44); and aquatints by Karl Bodmer, often considered to be the best Indian artist of his time, from Reise in das innere Nord-America [Travels in the interior of North America] (1839-41) by naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied. In addition, a large selection of photographs by Carl Moon and Edward Curtis will be on display. Selected artifacts from the Autry National Center will also be included.

Two popular legends will be given a closer look: that of Red Jacket, the most famous Indian orator of the 19th century, known for his bold defense of Iroquois culture threatened by missionaries and encroaching white settlements; and Pocahontas, whose true story differs from the folklore surrounding her. Capt. John Smith’s own 1624 account of his experiences among the native tribes of Virginia will be on displayed, illustrated with engravings that depict, among other scenes, Pocahontas begging for his life to be spared.

Events and Programming

Curator Tour: Legacy and Legend: Images of Indians from Four Centuries.
July 12 (Thursday) 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Join exhibition curator, Mary Kay Hight, for a private tour of the exhibition Legacy and Legend: Images of Indians from Four Centuries and gain insight into the selective way North American Indians have been depicted in images from the 1500’s to the early 1900’s. Members: $15. Non-Members: $20. Registration: 626-405-2128.

View Exhibition Gallery Guide