Artist: Edward S. Curtis (American, 1868-1952)
Title: Wichita Grass-House, plate #654
Date: 1927
Accession #: 2009.11.654
Medium: Photogravure on Dutch Van Gelder paper
Dimensions: sheet: 17 3/4 x 21 7/8 in., image: 11 3/8 x 15 7/16 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 Artist: As Florence Curtis, one of Edward Curtis’ daughters, was recording her father’s adventurous memories of journeying across the United States documenting information on Native American tribes, Edward Curtis summed up his life by saying:
As I look back on those years, my brain is a scrambled jumble of desert sandstorms, cyclone wrecked camps, exhaustion in waterless deserts, frozen feet and hands in northern blizzards, wrecked river canoes and ocean-going crafts; on the other hand, hours of utmost peace, comfort, and joy of delightful camps; again, the exultation of accomplishment when some particularly difficult fragment of information was secured. Many of the highlights of those years stand out clearly as though they were the happenings of yesterday.
(from: Makepeace, Anne. Edward S. Curtis Coming to Light. Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2002. p.177. Print.)