Native American Art and Statue from India

Not too long ago I was in the city of Denver, Colorado and while there visited the Denver Art Museum. I photographed a few pieces in their collection (older pieces that are irrevocably in the public domain) and thought that I would share a sampling of them here at Modern Art Quotes. I highly recommend that if you are in the Denver area that you visit the museum and see the whole collection, there is a lot more to see than the sampling I have provided below.

The first one I want to discuss is a painting on animal skin; a Native American war scene, from the Crow tribe. The United States were enemies of the Lakota, and so the Crow would work as scouts for them.

war record painting, 1880 White Swan, Crow

Below is a detail of that same painting. I like that it is painted on animal skin, and also that it depicts a historical scene; telling a story. I also like the graceful animal shapes and the interesting way the figures are drawn. The liberal use of color is very cool, European art was only starting to use color in such a way at this time (1880).

detail from painting shown above

The next piece is also Native American, a Seminole shoulder bag. I really like the patterns and the colors used; really amazing. And again, if you compare it with European design of the same time, the work is relatively very modern.

shoulder bag, Seminole, early 19th century

The last one is a statue from India. A lady looking in a mirror, it was made in the 800's, but it could depict a woman from any time, a kind of timeless depiction. (I am not knocking women, but it is a very typical kind of imagery that one can identify with when looking at it, no?)

Woman with mirror, India,
Madhya Pradesh 800's

Again, I recommend that if you get a chance to visit Denver you should stop by the Denver Museum of Art, they have a wide-ranging and interesting collection that I could not begin to describe here, you should see it for yourself.