52 ing landmark exhibitions, writing seminal books, and promoting Native art connoisseurship. He was also a man who was known to travel hours out of his way to discover a new Native artist or a good slice of pie. Coe was trained as an art historian specializing in European art, but he ultimately found his life’s passion in Native American art, which he pursued, largely selftaught, through years of study combined with interactions with Native artists and community members. He worked tirelessly to expand the public’s understanding and appreciation of traditional and contemporary forms, even as many connoisseurs, collectors, and even artists thought them to be lost. From Coe’s own collection of some 2,200 artworks that are now preserved by the foundation that bears his name, more than 200 works are being presented in the exhibition, which can be seen until April 17, 2016. They range from a nineteenthcentury Haida Chilkat robe, a birchbark scale model of a cottage by Irene Desmoulin, a rare mid-eighteenth century Cree or Ojibwe moosehide coat, and examples of twentiethcentury beadwork by virtuoso artist Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty. Presented salon style as they were in his home, this is a wide-ranging exhibition with objects from across the North American continent. It is accompanied by a full-color catalog. ABOVE: Chilkat robe. Tlingit or Haida, Alaska or Canada. Wool. RTCFA no. NA 1313. RIGHT: Coat. Cree, Ontario or Quebec. C. 1740. Moose hide, quills, wool, rocker stamping at hem, natural dyes. H: 108 cm. RTCFA no. NA1172. Photo: Addison Doty. 75 YEARS/75 OBJECTS Washington, DC—Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss were enthusiastic collectors and judicious patrons of scholarship and the arts. Sharing a taste for the art of little-known or underappreciated cultures, the Blisses developed a unique collection with the help of knowledgeable friends and scholarly advisors. Notable among their interests was a particular passion for Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art. They envisioned their Washington, DC, mansion, Dumbarton Oaks, as a “home of the humanities,” a place of natural serenity and intellectual adventure. They gave the house to Harvard University in 1940, and the same year it opened to the public as a museum. Celebrating the seventy-fi fth anniversary of the founding of what is now the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, an exhibition titled 75 Years/75 Objects, which opened in September, is presenting seventy-fi ve objects drawn from the museum’s three collections: Pre-Columbian art, Byzantine art, and the various examples of fi ne and decorative arts that enhance the stately residence. Arranged in sequences of nine themed, consecutive rotations over the course of nine months, the artworks moving through this constantly evolving exhibition refl ect the signifi cance of the collection on this anniversary year as well as the ongoing assessment of the founders’ art collecting interests. The fi rst month-long rotation was titled “Researching” and featured a number of objects that have signifi cantly benefi ted from being the subjects of focused study, which revealed lost or unknown information about them, demonstrating that museum work is not confi ned to collecting, stewardship, and display. The remaining eight rotations, each of which will examine a different aspect of museum practice, will continue until May 22, 2016. CONNOISSEURSHIP AND GOOD PIE Santa Fe—The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is presenting a major exhibition of Native American art, Connoisseurship and Good Pie: Ted Coe and Collecting Native Art. Ralph T. “Ted” Coe was a pioneer in the fi eld of Native art studies, curat- ABOVE: Eccentric fl int. Maya, Mexico or Guatemala. AD 600–700. Flint. H: 24.1 cm. Dumbarton Oaks, inv. Pc.8.587. ABOVE: Flyer for 75 Years/75 Objects. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC. MUSEUM news
•TribalPaginaIntera.indd
To see the actual publication please follow the link above