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Indepth Arts News:
"Winold Reiss: Native American Portraits"
2000-07-21 until 2000-09-10
Frye Art Museum
Seattle, WA,
USA
German-born Winold Reiss (1886-1953) studied art in
Munich before moving his family to the United States in
1913 to fulfill his dream of painting American Indians.
Settling in New York, the artist quickly established a
reputation as a teacher and designer. Eventually, Reiss was
commissioned by the Great Northern Railway to produce
portraits of members of the Blackfeet Confederacy.
Beginning in 1927 and continuing for almost three decades,
his vibrant images of Northwest Native Americans were used
on countless posters, menus, calendars, cards, and
advertisements produced by the railway.
Many of the sitters
became close friends, and the Blackfeet elders dubbed Reiss
Ksistakpoka, or Beaver Child. The artist's identification
with his sitters continued even after his death when his ashes
were scattered at the reservation near Browning, Montana, in
1954.
This exhibition is the second in a series that features artists
once active in the Northwest, whose works deserve to be
reconsidered. A full-color illustrated catalogue, with an
essay by historian Scott J. Tanner, is available in the
museum store.
IMAGE:
Winold Reiss,
Eagleribs,
pastel on paper.
All rights reserved.
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