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Special Collections - Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: Artwork

Guide to Special Collections and primary source materials created by and relating to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas

Introduction

Special Collections and College Archives houses artwork by an Indigenous artist of Canada as well as artwork depicting Native American historic figures and tribal scenes.

Artwork by Indigenous Peoples

 

Face to Face, Carl Beam and Andy Warhol 

September 4 - November 10, 2018

Schmucker Art Gallery


Keira Koch ’19 examines representations of indigenous cultures in prints and photographs by American artist Andy Warhol and First Nations artist Carl Beam. In this comparative study, Koch considers the topic of appropriation and re-appropriation of Native imagery.

Warhol, as a non-Indigenous artist, is using this imagery to highlight the dominant narrative of the American West. Beam, however, incorporates photographs of Native subjects and traditional narratives by re-appropriating those images to tell a distinctly Native narrative.

This exhibition invites discussion about the role of contemporary indigenous artists and how indigenous identities are expressed in contemporary art. This exhibition intersects with the issues and methodologies studied in Koch’s individualized major titled “Indigenous Cultures, History and Identity.” In addition to studying aboriginal arts and indigenous communities in Australia during her Junior year, Koch serves as the Co-President of Students for Indigenous Awareness at Gettysburg College.

Artwork Depicting Indigenous Peoples

Special Collections houses lithographs and engravings, both as single artworks and inside our rare books. These images can be found physically in Special Collections and virtually in our GettDigital Collections

Historical Artwork

Charles Bird King Lithographs

 In the early 19th century, Charles Bird King painted Indigenous leaders from over twenty tribes. His portraits were then reproduced as hand-colored lithographs in Thomas McKenney and James Hall’s three-volume series, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, published in 1837.

Browse the lithographs in GettDigital

Find the books in MUSCAT Plus

Push-ma-ta-ha, a Choctaw Warrior


 

Modern Artwork

Sitting Bull by Andy Warhol 

The Columbian Suite by Carl Beam