Post by Okwes on Jul 7, 2007 11:26:54 GMT -5
First British paintings of Native American chiefs at National Portrait
Gallery
Charlotte Higgins, arts correspondent
Thursday March 8, 2007
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In 1710 four "Indian kings" visited the London court to forge a treaty
with the British crown. Their arrival, prompting a nationwide stir, was
commemorated by John Verelst's stunning portraits, the first
representations of Native Americans in British art. Tomorrow, for the
first time, the portraits go on public view in Britain, at the National
Portrait Gallery in its exhibition Between Worlds: Voyagers to Britain
1700-1850.
The gallery's curator, Stephanie Pratt, herself one of the Crow Creek
Dakota Sioux, says the works are a fascinating example of individuals
from one culture being interpreted - with only partial understanding -
by an artist of another. "They were not Indian kings. They were
representatives of the Iroquois ... It's an example of an artist
attempting to fit an unfamiliar people into European artistic
conventions. They stand in formal poses in landscape backgrounds as if
English aristocrats. Yet the way they are dressed ... the clan symbols -
bear, wolf and turtle - scream out their difference."
According to Keith Jamieson, a culture consultant, an alliance forged in
1710 guaranteed for the Canadian and US Iroquois compensation for lands
lost through the American war of independence. He called yesterday on
the UK to support the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in their
current dispute - over land in Caledonia, Ontario.
Gallery
Charlotte Higgins, arts correspondent
Thursday March 8, 2007
www.topix.net/r/0KFyLsDRBNAS3UPwUns761xTdTbRJkzVjvVP=2FL1Jk7fy76I\
NgCm5u9QIT1tJzMzEAHLBI3R8ZC0f62IKJf4lcio=2FHzwOhLzPP2V7BcJe9Ubz3OD6SvA30\
Awopex=2FQnqEL
<http://www.topix.net/r/0KFyLsDRBNAS3UPwUns761xTdTbRJkzVjvVP=2FL1Jk7fy76\
INgCm5u9QIT1tJzMzEAHLBI3R8ZC0f62IKJf4lcio=2FHzwOhLzPP2V7BcJe9Ubz3OD6SvA3\
0Awopex=2FQnqEL>
In 1710 four "Indian kings" visited the London court to forge a treaty
with the British crown. Their arrival, prompting a nationwide stir, was
commemorated by John Verelst's stunning portraits, the first
representations of Native Americans in British art. Tomorrow, for the
first time, the portraits go on public view in Britain, at the National
Portrait Gallery in its exhibition Between Worlds: Voyagers to Britain
1700-1850.
The gallery's curator, Stephanie Pratt, herself one of the Crow Creek
Dakota Sioux, says the works are a fascinating example of individuals
from one culture being interpreted - with only partial understanding -
by an artist of another. "They were not Indian kings. They were
representatives of the Iroquois ... It's an example of an artist
attempting to fit an unfamiliar people into European artistic
conventions. They stand in formal poses in landscape backgrounds as if
English aristocrats. Yet the way they are dressed ... the clan symbols -
bear, wolf and turtle - scream out their difference."
According to Keith Jamieson, a culture consultant, an alliance forged in
1710 guaranteed for the Canadian and US Iroquois compensation for lands
lost through the American war of independence. He called yesterday on
the UK to support the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in their
current dispute - over land in Caledonia, Ontario.