LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Feb Americana Grand Format Auction #659  / 

25370

Frank Fiske: Portfolio Volumes I and II

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Photographic Images Start Price:375.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,500.00 USD
Frank Fiske: Portfolio Volumes I and II
<B>Frank Fiske: <I>Portfolio Volumes I and II</B></I></B></I> consisting of 30 contact photographs of 7.25" x 9.25" each mounted to 14" x 17" museum board, signed/numbered on the verso (#27/300), and housed in two archival clamshell boxes. These were printed directly from Fiske's negatives at the North Dakota State Historical Society and published circa 1980 by the North Dakota Heritage Foundation. Each volume contains a colophon with a biography, an article on Fiske's photography of the Sioux Indians, and a list of the plates contained therein. Condition of the photos are all excellent though the case and some of the rag boards contained in Volume I show some effects from water exposure. <BR><BR>Frank Bennett Fiske (1883-1952) was unique among the photographers of American Indians in that he was himself a native of the Dakotas and grew up with these same people that he would later photograph. This gave him a natural affinity and empathy that is evident in his work. Fiske actually got his middle name from Fort Bennett in the southern Dakota Territory where his father was stationed while still in the military. At age six, he arrived at the settlement of Winona on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. His father had a job as a civilian wagon master at nearby Fort Yates. One of his early memories was the killing of Sitting Bull during a confrontation with the Standing Rock Agency police; Fiske witnessed the delivery of the body to the Fort Yates morgue and the burial at a nearby cemetery. He attended school with the Indians and learned much of their culture. As a teenager, he studied under post photographer Dick Fansler and eventually took over the job. Most of his professional life was spent on the northern plains and devoted to capturing the Sioux people as a nation of noble warriors. A look at these amazing images will confirm that he was indeed successful.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Books & Catalogs (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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