This year was supposed to be Christopher Cardozo’s victory lap. The famous dealer, one of the most prominent experts in the world on the work of Edward S. Curtis, was retiring and had even decided to sell off all his Curtis material in a June 26 sale hosted by the Santa Fe Art Auction. Sadly, Cardozo never got to take that victory lap—he died in Minneapolis on February 21 at the age of 72.
Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), Geronimo – Apache, 1905, platinum print Estimate: $120/180,000The auction he initiated and helped plan is moving forward on June 26 as a tribute to Cardozo and his legacy with Curtis, the famous ethnographer and photographer who documented Native Americans for more than 30 years as part of his epic publishing project, The North American Indian. The sale will feature more than 400 lots, including a number of images that have rarely been seen. Highlights in the sale include a stunning array of platinum prints, considered by many to be the highest quality Curtis prints available. A formal portrait of Geronimo should draw considerable interest. The work, which has a lengthy exhibition provenance, is conservatively estimated at $120,000 to $180,000.
Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), The Piki Maker, 1906. Estimate available upon request
Curtis has been somewhat controversial in recent decades. Some Native Americans consider the images he took in the early 20th century as exploitive. But Cardozo held a different opinion and often pointed to Curtis’ extensive research on language, songs, customs and ceremonies as proof that Curtis had intentions on preserving and sharing the information he was gathering. Cardozo himself made a point to seek out descendants of Curtis’ subjects to give them images of their ancestors. “The work Cardozo was doing to repatriate these images back into Native American communities was astonishing,” says Gillian Blitch, president and CEO of Santa Fe Art Auction. “In so many cases, these images are the only images of the subjects that exist.”
Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), Untitled (Variant of Flathead Warrior), 1910, cyanotype. Estimate available upon request
The Cardozo sale will take place June 26 in Santa Fe. For more information visit www.santafeartauction.com.
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