Exhibits

American Indian Portraits: Elbridge Ayer Burbank in the West (1897–1910)
April 13 – July 13, 2002

	Gi-aum-e Hon-o-me-tah Kiowa, Fort Sill, Oklahoma Territory Oil on panel, 8" x 6" Newberry Library: Edward E. Ayer Collection

The first significant exhibition of Elbridge Ayer Burbank’s work since the early twentieth century, the Butler Institute of American Art’s traveling exhibit was enhanced by the Newberry Library’s renowned collection of materials on the histories, cultures, and literatures of American Indian peoples.

American Indian Portraits featured 68 oil paintings of American Indians at the turn of the century by Chicago artist Elbridge Ayer Burbank. The portaits, including ten from the Newberry's collections, depict American Indians from 26 western tribes and were supplemented by 14 additional items from the Newberry's  collections.

Curator

• M. Melissa Wolfe (Columbus Museum of Art)

Related Public Programs

• Letting Portraits Speak: Discovering Dialogue in Burbank's American Indian Portraits
  April 16, 2002 at 6:00 pm
  SPEAKER: M. Melissa Wolfe (Columbus Museum of Art)
  
  
• Big Shoulders and Broad Brushes: The Chicago Art World of Elbridge Ayer Burbank
  May 4, 2002 at 11:00 am
  SPEAKER: Wendy Greenhouse (independent scholar)
  
  
• Talking Back to Civilization: Indian Voices from the Age of Burbank
  May 11, 2002 at 11:00 am
  SPEAKER: Frederick E. Hoxie (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
  
  
• Burbank and Curtis: More Than the Artist Intended
  June 8, 2002 at 10:00 am
  PANEL: Anne Makepeace (Hopi; University of Arizona), M. Melissa Wolfe (Columbus Museum of Art).
  CHAIR: Robert W. Galler, Jr., (Newberry Library)
  
  
• Playing the Vanishing Indian.  A Performance piece by E. Donald Two-Rivers (Ojibwa).
  June 22, 2002 at 10:00 am
  PANEL: E. Donald Two-Rivers, Philip J. Deloria (of Dakota descent; University of Michigan), Jean O'Brien (White Earth Ojibwa; University of Minnesota).
  CHAIR: Robert W. Galler, Jr., (Newberry Library)

These programs were made possible in part by grants from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly.

Resources

• Exhibit Catalog — American Indian Portraits: Elbridge Ayer Burbank in the West (1897-1910).  M. Melissa Wolfe; with
  contributions by Barbara Dayer Gallati, Bill Mercer, and Julia Danna Vienhage.  ISBN 1-882790-26-X.
  
  
• Biographical Sketch of Elbridge Ayer Burbank
  
  
• D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian History
  
  
• Newberry collections for American Indian History
  

Major funding for American Indian Portraits: Elbridge Ayer Burbank in the West (1897-1910) was made available by The Christensen Fund and the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly.

Additional funders included The Chicago Community Trust, The Robert G. and Miranda Donnelley Family Fund of The Donnelley Foundation, The Frankel Family Foundation, Stephen and Cindy Mitchell, and The Spaulding Fund.