Artist: Edward S. Curtis (American, 1868-1952)
Title: Offering to the Sun – San Ildefonso, plate #592
Date: 1925
Accession #: 2009.11.592
Medium: Photogravure on Dutch Van Gelder paper
Dimensions: sheet: 21 ¾ x17 ¾ in., image: 15 5/8 x 11 ½ in.
Acquired by: Dubuque Cultural Preservation Committee, an Iowa general partnership, consisting of Dr. Darryl K. Mozena, Jeffrey P. Mozena, Mark Falb, Timothy J. Conlon, and Dr. Randy Lengeling
Interesting fact about the Photographer: Curtis worked to make every captured scene a work of art. Knowing that anybody could pick up a camera and take a photo, Curtis worked to make every photograph a composition. Arguing with people who felt strongly that photography was only mechanical and dense, Curtis stated: “…I do not think that even the most radical of [critics] can deny that a photograph can show artistic handling and feeling. After all, it is the finished product which hangs on our wall and not the implements with which it is made.” (from: Makepeace, Anne. Edward S. Curtis Coming to Light. Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2002. p. 30. Print.)