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Journey Through History:
Art and Artifacts from the Collection of Dr. Van Kirke & Helen Nelson
May 29 - July 26, 2014
The Hockaday Museum
of Art is presenting A Journey Through History: Art and Artifacts from
the Collection of Dr. Van Kirke & Helen Nelson. This exhibition
of privately held items is on display May 29 through July 26, 2014.
The Hockaday's exhibition, curated by Executive Director
Elizabeth Moss, offers a fascinating journey through time with significant
works from notable artists including Charles Marion Russell, O.C. Seltzer,
Edgar S. Paxson, Charles Fritz, Fred Fellows, John Fery, Joseph Henry Sharp,
Carl Rungius, Edward Borein and many others. Items on display will
include unique items such as illustrated hand-written letters and sketches
by the artists who introduced the American West to the world. Artifacts
from the indigenous peoples of the West and Southwest will also be on display.
"The size and breadth of this exhibition rivals or
perhaps even exceeds the grandeur of the Hockaday's own permanent collection,"
said Moss, "this display is a must-see event for every local and visiting
person who enjoys the art of the West, Glacier National Park, Montana and
the native peoples of this land."
Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson are recognized throughout
the nation as major collectors and have donated significant paintings, artifacts,
and books to numerous museums, historical societies, and public schools
throughout the country. Dr. Nelson has observed the progression of
several western museums, including The Russell in Great Falls. The
Nelsons have been ardent supporters of the Hockaday Museum of Art for many
years, and presented the Museum with a generous gift of a C.M. Russell original
of "Young Boy", which is now on permanent display at the
Museum.
The opening reception for A Journey Through History
was held on Thursday, May 29, 2014. An informal conversation with Dr. Van
Kirke & Helen Nelson took place at the event. Throughout the exhibit,
visitors may learn more about the collection by taking one of the docent-guided
tours held Thursday and Saturday mornings at 10:30 AM (included with guest
admission).
A Journey Through History was
made possible by the significant support of our Premium Sponsor: Glacier
Bank Directors and Friends, and by Glacier Bank. The Dr. Van Kirke
and Helen Nelson Exhibition and Education Fund is supported by Scott &
Jane Wheeler and Tabby & Bob Ivy. Catering for the public reception
is being generously provided by the Culinary Institute of Montana at Flathead
Valley Community Colllege.
Selected images from the exhibition

(above: Sydney Laurence (1865-1940), Mt. McKinley,
Oil on board, 11.5 x 15.5 inches. On loan from the collection of Dr. Van
Kirke and Helen Nelson. Photo credit: Digital Planet Kalispell)

(above: Edward Borein (1872-1945), Blackfeet War Party,
Black and white wash, 11.5 x 17.5 inches. On loan from the collection of
Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson. Photo credit: Digital Planet Kalispell)

(above: O.C. Seltzer (1877-1957), Farewell to Yesterday,
Watercolor, 12.75 x 10.25 inches. On loan from the collection of Dr. Van
Kirke and Helen Nelson. Photo credit: Digital Planet Kalispell)

(above: Charles Marion Russell (1864-1926), Yes, The
Mice People Always Make Their Nest in the Heads of the Dead Buffalo People,
Ever Since the Night, Circa 1915 , Pen and ink, watercolor on paper,
8.5 x 6.38 inches. On loan from the collection of Dr. Van Kirke and Helen
Nelson. Photo credit: Digital Planet Kalispell)
Expanded object labels from the exhibition
-
- Ace Powell (1912-1978)
- Untitled - Mountain Goat
-
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 3" x 4.25" x 1.25"
- Donated by: Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
- The Hockaday Museum of Art
- Permanent Collection, S2003.12.04
-
-
- Series: Indian Trader Checks 1891 & 1899
-
- Written by J.H. Sherbourne, U.S. Indian trader Endorsed on reverse
side by Instant Lighter and Novelty Manufacturing Company
-
- J. H. Sherbourne owned a merchandise store in Browning, MT. Sherbourne
had moved to Browning in 1984 from Ponca City, Oklahoma. While in Oklahoma,
he had become a close friend of Chief Joseph, the great Nez Perce leader.
Sherbourne realized that the culture of the Blackfeet would disappear unless
items were accepted and cared for when presented for sale or given as gifts.
He placed the treasures in trunks sprinkled with tobacco to keep the vermin
out.
-
- Medium: Paper
- Dimensions: 3.25" x 8.50"
- Donated by: Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
- The Hockaday Museum of Art
- Permanent Collection, SC2008.01.01AB
-
-
- Frank Jay Haynes (1853-1921)
- Glacier National Park and Blackfeet Indians
- Circa early 19th century
-
- F. Jay Haynes, or the "Professor" to almost all that knew
him, was a professional photographer, publisher, and entrepreneur from
Minnesota who played a major role in documenting through photographs the
early history of the great Northwest. He became the official photographer
of the Northern Pacific Railway and of Yellowstone National Park. His photographs
were widely published in articles, journals, books, and turned into stereographs
and postcards in the late 19th and early 20th century.
-
- Medium: Photography
- Donated by: Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
- Collection of 28 Glass Lantern Slides
- The Hockaday Museum of Art
- Permanent Collection, PH2006.12.02A-BB
-
-
- Blackfeet Stabbing Knife
-
- Beavertail sheath with dagger. The blade is made from a file attached
to a native-made wooden handle decorated with brass wire and tacks.
-
- Medium: Mixed media
- Dimensions: 24.5" x 4.5" and 15" x 4.5"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Blackfeet Medicine Bag with Buffalo Stone
-
- Blackfeet medicine rawhide bag covered with sacred red ochre earth
paint. Small beaded bag for holding red ochre earth paint.
-
- Medium: Rawhide, paint, beads
- Dimensions: 32" x 12" x 22" and 9" x 2.5"
x 4"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Buckskin Dress
- Circa 1900?
-
- The dress is a traditional piece moving from a strictly tribal style
to a non-Indian type of garment that became popular, as the pow-wow circuit
became more developed across the country. This is a two-piece garment consisting
of a dress and fully beaded top.
-
- The beaded dress yoke is derived from a Sioux style dress top. Some
were made at Fort Peck and possibly copied by the Blackfeet people.
-
- Medium: Rawhide and beads
- Dimensions: 53" long, 36" wide
- Donated by: Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
- The Hockaday Museum of Art
- Permanent Collection, SC.2012.04D
-
-
- Gary Joseph Schildt (1938-)
- Scalp Dancer
-
- Gary Schildt was born in Helena, Montana, in 1938. As a Blackfeet descendant,
Gary grew up on his family's ranch on the reservation near Browning.
-
- He studied commercial art and photography at the City College of San
Francisco. Schildt lives and works on the Blackfeet Reservation using
the curator cottage at the Museum of the Plains Indians as a studio. In
1998, he did a series of 43 paintings of the Blackfeet Sundance now on
permanent exhibit at the C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana.
-
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 9.25" x 5.5" x 6"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Plateau Cradle Board
-
- Floral beaded cradleboard, possibly Salish.
-
- Medium: Cloth, beads and wood
- Dimensions: 36.5" x 14.5" x 5"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Toy Cradle, Crow
- Circa 1875-1900
-
- Medium: Cloth, beads and wood
- Dimensions: 20" x 7" x 17"
-
- Moccasin Collection
- 1- Southern Plains, Kiowa
- circa 1875-1900
- 2- Central Plains, Arikara
- circa 1875-1900
- 3- Eastern Sioux, Santee
- circa 1860-1880
- 4- Cheyenne or Arapaho
- circa 1890
5- Sioux- Child's Moccasin
- circa 1890-1900
-
- Medium: Hide, cloth, beads
- Dimensions: Various
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- O.C. Seltzer (1877-1957)
- Doctor Hitchcock Letter
-
- Olaf Seltzer arrived in Great Falls, Montana in 1897, at the age of
nineteen. He worked as a cowboy and then as a machinist and locomotive
repairman for the Great Northern Railway, often sketching the landscape
in his spare time.
-
- By 1901, Seltzer was working in oils painting wildlife. By 1921, he
was a full-time painter. He created over 2,500 works of art during his
lifetime and was considered a transition painter between famous painters
of the old west like Russell and Remington to those who painted from western
myths.
-
- Medium: Watercolor
- Dimensions: 15" x 7.25"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
- Kirke's Comments:
- It was back when I was doing a lot of advertising in the classifieds
of the Great Falls Tribune. The Hitchcock family responded to the
"western art wanted" ad. Dr. Hitchcock, the physician who brought
the first x-ray machine to Great Falls and perhaps the state of Montana,
was familiar with Russell and with Seltzer. This particular watercolor
is an illustrated letter, which Seltzer did a lot of. He and his
friend, Charles Russell, did a lot together promoting letters between artists
and collectors or friends. In the illustration, Dr. Hitchcock has
shot an elk and he is sending some meat to Olaf Seltzer. The letter
itself is a thank you note to Dr. Hitchcock from Seltzer.
-
- Seltzer/Doctor Hitchcock Letter
-
-
- Winold Reiss (1886-1953)
- Spopeia and Mameia
- Two children of the Kainahs
-
- Born in Germany, Reiss grew up in the Black Forest. In Munich, he studied
at the Royal Academy and the Art School. He was impressed by novels of
James Fennimore Cooper and he came to the United States in 1913 with the
purpose of painting Indians like those Cooper had portrayed in his books.
-
- In 1919 he went West, visiting the Blackfeet Indians who made him an
honorary member of the tribe, naming him "Beaver Child". Eighty-one
of his portraits were published by the Great Northern Railway.
-
- Print from a Great Northern Calendar
- Dimensions: 9.75" x 7.25"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Dave Powell (1954-)
- Indians Dancing
-
- Dave Powell is the son of artists Ace Powell and Nancy McLaughlin Powell.
His father, Ace Powell, was a prolific Western artist.
-
- Powell is often called upon to provide costumes and props, and to give
technical advice about authenticity for films and television. Productions
he has worked on include Good Old Boys, Silverado, The Life and Times
of Grizzly Adams and Lonesome Dove. While his film work
is guided by his experience, his sculptures, paintings and illustrations
are a result of his relationship to the land and the western culture he
loves.
-
- Medium: Watercolor
- Dimensions: 10.5" x 13.5"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
J.L. Clarke (1881-1970)
- Mountain Goat
-
- In 1916, the artist was featured in his first art show. He maintained
a rustic studio in East Glacier where he spent his days carving the images
of Montana's wildlife. Clarke never strayed far from his Native American
roots. He described himself as three quarters Blackfeet and always attended
Indian Days in Browning.
-
- Clarke's precise carving received numerous awards and in the 1941 edition
of Who's Who in Art he was described as "the best portrayer
of western wildlife in the world."
-
- Medium: Block print
- Dimensions: 11.50" x 11.50"
- Donated by: Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
- The Hockaday Museum of Art
- Permanent Collection, PR2004.04.20
-
-
- Carl Rungius (1869-1959)
- Alaskan Wilderness
-
- Carl Rungius studied art in Berlin at three academies before emmigrating
to the U.S. in 1894. He established a studio in NYC the same year.
Rungius took his first sketching trip out to Wyoming and the Yellowstone
National Park in 1895. For the next 50 years he spent most of his
time outdoors, painting directly from nature, traveling from Arizona to
Alaska. Rungius was a visual historian and naturalist with a vast knowledge
of anatomy and a distinct composition and color sense. His specialty
became Western American big game subjects, favoring grizzly bears, moose,
caribou, and the occasional cowboy.
-
- Medium: Etching with drypoint
- Dimensions: 8" x 11"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Carl Rungius (1869-1959)
- Face to Face
-
- Medium: Etching with drypoint
- Dimensions: 8" x 11"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Carl Rungius (1869-1959)
- Cliff Dwellers
-
- Medium: Etching with drypoint
- Dimensions: 8" x 11"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- T. J. Hileman (1882-1945)
- Chief White Dog
-
- Medium: Hand-colored photography
- Dimensions: 7.75" x 6.75"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Lone Wolf (1882-1970)
- A Study
-
- Lone Wolf was born on the Blackfeet Reservation of Montana. His given
name was Hart Merriam Schultz, and he was the son of author James W. Schultz
and Fine Shield Woman. Lone Wolf's style was that of Remington and
Russell. He became famous for his illustrations, painting and sculpture
of western scenes that he signed with a wolf's face. Lone Wolf set
up tepee studios at the Grand Canyon and Glacier National Park at St. Mary's
Lake and later in the mountains of Arizona. He lived the last fifteen years
of his life in Tucson, Arizona, with his wife Naoma. He is buried on the
Blackfeet Reservation.
-
- Medium: Oil on board
- Dimensions: 8" x 10"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
- Roland W. Reed (1864-1934)
- End of Day
-
- Roland W. Reed was born in 1864 in Wisconsin. Reed's handwritten
notes reveal he was fascinated by Indians. At the age of eighteen he headed
west. He worked for a few years doing portrait photography and also supplying
Indian photographs to the Great Northern Railway.
-
- Reed's adventures led him north, to photograph the gold rush in Alaska.
A few years later he was doing studio work. Records indicate that while
his studio work was highly successful, his passion was always photographing
the Indians.
-
- Medium: Photography
- Dimensions: 15" x 19.5"
- On loan from the collection of
- Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
-
-
- Ace Powell (1912-1978)?
- Buckin' Bronc
-
- Ace was a painter of western action scenes, wild animals, and Indian
figures. Powell was credited with shaping the whole art market in Montana.
He was very prolific, creating between 12,000 and 15,000 paintings and
sculptures in his career.
-
- Medium: Etching, print 23/50
- Dimensions: 8" x 5.25"
- Donated by: Dr. Van Kirke and Helen Nelson
- Location: The Hockaday Museum of Art Permanent Collection, PR2004.03.03
-
-
- Wolfgang Pogzeba (1936-1982)
-
- Letter to Kirke
-
- Pogzeba was an abstract realist painter, sculptor, printmaker, and
photographer of the West.
- He studied at the University of Colorado, graduating with a B.A. in
Fine Arts and a Master's degree in Education. When he graduated in 1960
he was given a one-man show at the Montana Historical Society in Helena,
Montana. He also exhibited at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas
in 1963. After a short try at teaching, he began painting, sculpting, and
photographing full time, eventually moving to Taos, New Mexico. He tragically
died in an airplane crash near Taos, New Mexico in 1982.