Now Online: My WSJ Piece on Nelson-Atkins American Indian Galleries

You can read tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal piece today: Elevating American Indian Art. And don’t miss the slideshow, particularly the eighth image—the Arikara shield of a buffalo bull that curator Gaylord Torrence called, “probably the most important object that I will acquire.”

Here’s my own inadequate photo:

Not in the article is what Torrence told me about the “ambiguous space” depicted in this masterfully painted shield, which records a vision: It sometimes seems as if the mystical beast were descending from the sky; sometimes as if it were on the ground, viewed from above by a rider on horseback.

Also not in the article were the comments made to me about the shield the next day by Donald Ellis, a prominent Ontario and New York dealer, who brought me over to the shield to expound upon its extraordinary quality. He said that if it had been his to sell, he would have asked about $1.2 million. If no buyer met this price, he would have gladly kept it.

But most importantly, not conveyed in any photo is the power of this object when you encounter it in person. For one thing, the eyes are incised and the bull’s gaze transfixes you, almost putting you into your own vision-inducing trance.

I’ll have more soon, including images of some of the objects I discuss in the piece that are not included in the slideshow.

Share: