The Far North: 2000 Years of American Eskimo and Indian Art

March 8-May 15, 1973

Overview: Among the 365 objects representing the native cultures of Alaska and the Northwest coast were masks, helmets, chests, ceremonial headdresses and gowns, and carved ivories from prehistoric times to the end of the 19th century. Loans came from national collections in the Soviet Union, Finland, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, and Ireland, in addition to 23 museums in the United States and Canada. The first conception of the exhibition was proposed in 1968 by René d'Harnoncourt, who earlier had organized the first large show of Indian arts at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The idea was promoted by Mitchell Wilder, director of the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth.

Douglas Lewis coordinated the exhibition at the National Gallery. In the installation, designed by Gaillard Ravenel, forest and coastal settings were recreated using weathered wood from an old barn, bark, wood chips, and pebbles. Sepia photographs of the areas from which the objects originated also were shown.

Attendance: 184,916 (69 days)

Location: Ground Floor, Central Gallery, Galleries G-7, G-8, Space 11 (5,200 sq. ft.)

Catalogue: The Far North: 2000 Years of American Eskimo and Indian Art, by Henry B. Collins, Frederica de Laguna, Edmund Carpenter, and Peter Stone. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1973.

Other venues:

Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum, Alaska

June 10-September 9, 1973

Portland Art Museum

September 23-November 18, 1973

Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth

December 6, 1973-February 3, 1974

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