LINES ON THE HORIZON San Francisco—Thomas “Thom” Weisel is perhaps best known for his work in the banking and business sectors associated with the high-tech industry in Silicon 62 Valley, but he is also an art collector of equal significance. In addition to his contemporary art collection, he has spent some thirty years forming a world-class collection of Native American art, from which some 200 works, most from the American Southwest—including eleventh-century Mimbres pottery, masterful classic Navajo weavings from the midto late-nineteenth century, and twentieth-century works by recognized artists such as the ceramicist Nampeyo of Hano Pueblo—were donated to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in 2013. An exhibition highlighting this generous gift will be featured at the de Young Museum from May 3, 2014, until January 4, 2015. In addition to the Southwest material, Lines on the Horizon: Native American Art from the Weisel Family Collection will also feature singular pieces from the Northwest Coast and the first Plains ledger drawings to enter the museum’s permanent collection. Following their inclusion in this exhibition, these artworks will form the core of a new Native American installation that will transform the way the indigenous arts of North America are presented at this institution. This exhibition will be the subject of an article in the next issue of Tribal Art magazine. LOWE Coral Gables—The Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami is presenting a pair of Southwest Native American–themed exhibitions, Pueblo to Pueblo: The Legacy of Southwest Indian Pottery and Finished in Beauty: Navajo Weaving from the Permanent Collection. Both will be on display until March 23, 2014. Pottery-making in the American Southwest is a tradition that first emerged some two thousand years ago. Historically, it was a regionally distinctive and functional art form, passed from generation to generation over the span of centuries by people living in permanent villages known as pueblos. By the latter part of the nineteenth century, these traditions were well established, and as more and more Anglo-Americans began to travel and move to the Southwest, pottery production quickly transformed from a functional art form used primarily within Pueblo communities to a highly marketable cultural expression. Guest curated by noted scholar Bill Mercer, Pueblo to Pueblo consists of seventy-four pottery vessels and supporting materials dating from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries that together illustrate the remarkable variety of pottery created during this particularly dynamic century of transformation. All of the works are on loan from the Dyer Collection of Native American artifacts of the Kansas City Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, which is currently under renovation. Also curated by Mercer, Finished in Beauty features nineteen examples of Navajo wearing textiles drawn from the Alfred I. Barton Collection of Native American Art in the Lowe’s permanent collection. It examines three categories of these beautiful, hand-woven works of art: the chief blanket (initially collected by neighboring native groups), women’s garments, and the serape. The nineteenth-century hand-woven textiles featured in this exhibition survive as the most enduring artistic legacies of the Navajo Nation. Above, left to right: Poncho serape. Navajo, United States Southwest. C. 1830. Wool tapestry weave. The Weisel Family Art Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L12.103.16. Serape. Navajo, United States Southwest. C. 1865. Wool tapestry weave. The Weisel Family Art Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L12.103.2. Serape. Navajo, United States Southwest. C. 1860. Wool tapestry weave. The Weisel Family Art Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L12.103.19. Serape. Navajo, United States Southwest. C. 1850. Wool tapestry weave. The Weisel Family Art Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L12.103.20. Wearing blanket. Navajo, United States Southwest. Navajo. C. 1840. Wool tapestry weave. The Weisel Family Art Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L12.103.18. Below: Olla by Nampeyo (1860–1942), Hopi Pueblo, Arizona. 1890–1900. Pottery. Collection of The Kansas City Museum & Union Station Kansas City, Inc. Photo courtesy of the Lowe Art Museum. Above: Olla by Maria Martinez (1887–1980) and Santana Martinez (1909–2002). San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico. 1952. Pottery. Collection of The Kansas City Museum & Union Station Kansas City, Inc. Photo courtesy of the Lowe Art Museum.
CoverT71_FR.qxd_CoverF Vuvi
To see the actual publication please follow the link above