Lot 50

1913 Blackfeet Indian Roland Reid Framed Photo

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
Offered in this lot is a 1912 photograph of a Blackfoot Indian on horseback in Montana. The print shows a Blackfeet woman on horseback with a travois being pulled behind, outlined against Montana mountains. On the bottom, on the left, is the numbering "52/450"; on the bottom right side is an embossed blind stamp that reads "© 1913 Roland Reed UNDER C.C. 1978". Roland W. Reed (1864 – 1934) was an American artist and photographer. He was part of an early 20th century group of photographers of Native Americans known as pictorialists. Pictorialists were influenced by the late 19th Century art movement, Impressionism, and their photography was characterized by an emphasis on lighting and focus. Rather than record an image as it was, pictorialists were more interested in re-creating an image as they thought it might have been. Part artist and part scientist, they endeavored to have their re-creations reflect not only the highest artistic value, but unquestioned ethnological accuracy as well. At the beginning of the 20th century a number of pictorialists, noticing the extremely deleterious impact of reservation life on Native Americans, wanted to recreate, in photographs, the Indian's life and ways as they had been in better times, rather than record how it had actually become. The shown art measures 18 3/4" x 14 1/4" and the frame measures 23" x 27". This item is in very good condition and shows no obvious signs of damage.