91
FIG. 19 (below): Gauntlets.
Lakota-Métis; North or South Dakota.
C. 1890.
Native-tanned leather, glass and brass beads, cotton cloth.
L: 38.1 cm.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
Gift of Berte and Alan Hirschfield, inv. 2016.54.1,2.
Photo: Joshua Ferdinand.
NELSON-ATKINS
FIG. 20 (bottom): Julie Buffalohead (Ponca;
living in St. Paul, Minnesota, b. 1972).
The Trickster Showdown, 2014.
Lithograph and screen print on paper (two sheets).
69.9 x 141.6 cm.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
Purchase: Acquired through the generosity of Timothy B.
and Jean Schmit, inv. 2017.8.1,2.
Photo: Joshua Ferdinand.
founding curator of the Nelson-Atkins’ department
of American Indian Art.
The vision for the new department was a suite of
galleries featuring a presentation of pre-encounter
to contemporary North American Native art from
across the continent. Creating a select but comprehensive
group of carefully chosen works rich in cultural
and historical significance and of the highest aesthetic
merit was the goal. To accomplish this, well-represented
areas—Southwestern cultures and, to some extent,
Plains—needed development. In those areas with
limited representation—Woodlands, Plateau, California,
Northwest Coast, and Arctic—a significant number
of new acquisitions were required. Additionally,
the collection at the time contained only one work of
Native American contemporary art. Fortunately, a
donor stepped forward in 2004 with a dedicated fund
in the name of her husband, A. Keith Brodkin, for the
purchase of contemporary works. The institution and
other donors joined in, and since 2002, more than
fifty works by living artists have been added to the
holdings.
With the launch of the Bloch Building in 1999 and
the accompanying reorganization, plans developed
for American Indian art. The new galleries would
quadruple the space previously allotted, moving from
the marginally located 1,500-square-foot area on the
third floor into three prominent galleries on the second
floor of the original building. Here, the Native
American galleries and American painting, sculpture,