Who painted Portfolio I, Plate 6: Sígesh-Apache?

Portfolio I, Plate 6: Sígesh-Apache was painted by Edward S. Curtis in 1903.

Where can I see Portfolio I, Plate 6: Sígesh-Apache?

Portfolio I, Plate 6: Sígesh-Apache is held by Cleveland Museum of Art.

Portfolio I, Plate 6: Sígesh-Apache by Edward S. Curtis (1903)

Accession no.: 1995.203.21.6
Credit line: Presented by Mrs. James H. Hoyt, Elton Hoyt, II, and Mrs. Amasa Stone Mather in memory of James H. Hoyt

About this work

It is part of a portfolio of photographs that Curtis took of Native American tribes.

This image shows a woman in a dark, blurred background. She is wearing a dark shawl with a patterned border and a white necklace. Her dark hair is pulled back, and she has a headband with a pattern.

The woman's face is blurred, but her dark eyes are visible. She is looking to the right, and her expression is serious. The image is in sepia tones, which gives it a warm, nostalgic feel.

The image is a portrait of a woman from the Apache tribe, taken by Edward S. Curtis in 1903. It is part of a portfolio of photographs that Curtis took of Native American tribes. The image is held at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

If you want to learn more about the artist who took this photo, look up Edward S. Curtis.

Overview

Portfolio I, Plate 6: Sígesh-Apache is a platinum photogravure created by Edward S. Curtis in 1903 as part of his monumental twenty-volume project, The North American Indian. The work depicts a portrait of a woman from the Apache people, identified by the caption as Sígesh. She is positioned against a dark, indistinct background that isolates her figure and emphasizes her facial features and attire.

Her dark hair is pulled back and adorned with a patterned headband, while she wears a dark shawl featuring a decorative border and a white necklace. The subject gazes toward the right, her expression composed and direct. Curtis employed soft-focus lighting and careful composition to convey dignity and individuality, moving beyond ethnographic documentation to create a sympathetic, artistic representation.

This plate exemplifies Curtis's early approach to his project, where he sought to capture what he perceived as the 'vanishing race' of Native Americans through intimate, studio-style portraiture. The image remains a significant example of his photographic style and his broader cultural documentation efforts in the early twentieth century.

Subject & Meaning

The image presents an Apache woman framed against a dark, indistinct backdrop. She wears a dark shawl edged with a decorative pattern, a white necklace, and a patterned headband, her hair pulled back. Her gaze is directed to the right, conveying a solemn demeanor that invites contemplation of individual identity within a broader cultural record.

Technique & Style

Captured in sepia tones, the photograph employs soft focus that renders the background and the subject’s facial features slightly blurred, emphasizing texture and tonal contrast. The use of chiaroscuro and the muted palette contributes to a nostalgic atmosphere characteristic of early twentieth‑century ethnographic photography.

History & Provenance

Created during Curtis’s fieldwork among the Apache in the early 1900s, the print later entered the holdings of the Cleveland Museum of Art. It remains a representative example of Curtis’s systematic effort to compile visual documentation of Indigenous peoples for his multi‑volume publication.

Context

The portrait belongs to a larger project in which Curtis sought to record the customs, attire, and individuals of Native American tribes at a time when their traditional ways were rapidly changing. The image reflects both the photographer’s aesthetic choices and the ethnographic interests of the period.