UMFA: Bierstadt to Warhol: American Indians in the West

A cohesive, comprehensive collection of painting representing the American Indian is an essential aspect in representing the history of art in the United States. This makes the UMFA’s current exhibition Bierstadt to Warhol: American Indians in the West—largely from the Diane & Sam Stewart Collection—crucial to an accurate rendering of the nation’s art history. The exhibition presents 160 years of painting of American Indians, but doesn’t stop short of questioning who is painting them, when and why.

The exhibition, according to the museum, “challenges viewers to understand these works within their historical context, and recognize and consider the varied motivations of artists and the images they produce.” The exhibition consists of many breathtaking landscapes, as well as sculpture and works on paper. Of portraiture, curator Donna Poulton says, “No portrait can be taken to be a pure or objective representation of its subject. In varying degrees, the artist’s subjective vision is inherent in the apparent reality depicted in these works of art.”

This critical lens adds another level of meaning to this history of American art. In American Pop artist Bill Schenck’s “Two Navajo Riders” (detail pictured), the primary subject rides in his saddle sturdily upright and proud. His face shows deep recesses; he wears contemporary clothing, but with a face that shows the same strength of courage and vision for the future as his ancestors. This is an American Indian painted as a true American icon. (Ehren Clark)