Portfolio XVII, Plate 594: Washing Wheat - San Juan
1905
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1905
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Portfolio XVII, Plate 594: Washing Wheat - San Juan is a 1905 by Edward S. Curtis, depicting Washing, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman in a long dress stands near a stream, washing wheat in shallow water. She kneels on a flat stone, her hands deep in the clear flow. Trees rise behind her, and sunlight hits the reeds along the bank. This photo is part of a 20-volume project by Edward S. Curtis, who traveled across North America to document Native American life. He made over 10,000 images, often staging scenes to match his idea of tradition — which means some photos show what he believed should exist, not always daily reality. The Cleveland Museum of Art holds many of his prints, and they are worth seeing to understand how photography shaped views of Native cultures in the early 1900s. (118 words)
Edward S. Curtis (1868–1952) was an American artist.
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