The Muskegon Museum of Art presents Edward S. Curtis: Unpublished Alaska, the Lost Photographs, an exhibition of photo negatives that have never been released since 1927.
This first-time public showing features images made from recently discovered original negatives by Edward Sherriff Curtis. Unpublished Alaska features over 100 images along with excerpts from the personal journals of Curtis and his daughter Beth Curtis Magnuson describing their harrowing adventures in the Bering Sea.
On June 8, 1927, Curtis, accompanied by daughter Beth and newly employed Stewart C. Eastwood, set sail on the steamer ship Victoria towards Nome, Alaska. The purpose of their voyage was to complete the photography and research for the final, 20th volume of Curtis’s masterwork, The North American Indian. Begun in 1898, The North American Indian was the defining passion of Curtis’s life, an attempt to record, in writing and photography, the lives of the indigenous peoples of the southwestern, western, and northwestern United States.
Curtis took hundreds of images on his journey, only part of which was published. The rest sat, unseen, passed down through the family until today.
The exhibit will be on display from September 16, 2021 through January 9, 2022. The Graybills will visit the MMA on September 16 to sign books and to give a lecture as part of an exhibition opening event. The evening starts with a reception at 5. The event is free and open to the public.
Visit muskegonartmuseum.org for more information.
