Native Faces is the catalogue to an exhibition of the same name presented at the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles in 1984 and at Omaha\u27s Joslyn Art Museum in 1985. The show featured late nineteenth and early twentieth century paintings of California, Southwest, and Plains Indian subjects by wellknown artists such as Joseph Sharp, Ernest Blumenschein and E. Irving Couse. The paintings were shown with related Indian artifacts and historic photographs. The catalogue focuses on sixteen of the paintings and their related material, with commentary on each by Patricia Trenton, an art historian, and Patrick Houlihan, an anthropologist

Gallagher, Marsha V.

Houlihan, Patrick

Trenton, Patricia

English

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 1986 Review of Native Faces: Indian Cultures in American Art by Patricia Trenton and Patrick Houlihan Patricia Trenton Patrick Houlihan Marsha V. Gallagher Joslyn Art Museum Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly  Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Trenton, Patricia; Houlihan, Patrick; and Gallagher, Marsha V., "Review of Native Faces: Indian Cultures in American Art by Patricia Trenton and Patrick Houlihan" (1986). Great Plains Quarterly. 898. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/898 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 62 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1986 Native Faces: Indian Cultures in American Art. By Patricia Trenton and Patrick Houlihan. Los Angeles: LAACO Incorporated and the Southwest Museum, 1984. Photo-graphs, maps, notes, collections and exhibi-tions. xiii + 117 pp. Paper $15.95. Native Faces is the catalogue to an exhibi-tion of the same name presented at the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles in 1984 and at Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum in 1985. The show featured late nineteenth and early twentieth century paintings of California, Southwest, and Plains Indian subjects by well-known artists such as Joseph Sharp, Ernest Blumenschein and E. Irving Couse. The paintings were shown with related Indian artifacts and historic photographs. The cata-logue focuses on sixteen of the paintings and their related material, with commentary on each by Patricia Trenton, an art historian, and Patrick Houlihan, an anthropologist. In their preface the authors urge a multidi-mensional viewpoint in the examination of art depicting the Indian and his culture, stating that such works "are often valuable research documents for both historians and anthropol-ogists." They further state that "the paintings in this exhibition embody a wide spectrum of valuable information, from detailed ethno-graphic observations to the subtle emotional reactions of the artist and his Indian models." The works illustrated in the catalogue were not created to serve as primary research documents in the study of Indian cultures. Details are often sketchy, so that Houlihan's commentary on the pictures frequently and necessarily employs phrases like "it is difficult to tell" or "probably depicts." In addition, the paintings are often, as Houlihan notes in referring to William Leigh's Pool at Oraibi, wonderful combinations of fact and fiction. To varying degrees this is true of a large propor-tion of what is called "Western Art." Nonetheless, such pictures can be, as the authors contend, useful documents. They certainly convey the attitudes and conceptions of the artists and often of their audiences. Moreover, an understanding of an artist's style and predilections can allow the interpretation of pictures as records. Trenton's analyses include biographical data, quotations from the artists, descriptions of their studio props and, in some instances, photographs from which they may have worked. The information on objects and customs provided by Houlihan makes one examine each picture more closely and adds greatly to its appreciation. Native Faces is a fruitful collaboration and a beautiful-ly presented book. MARSHA v. GALLAGHER Center for Western Studies Joslyn Art Museum 

Review of \u3ci\u3eNative Faces: Indian Cultures in American Art\u3c/i\u3e by Patricia Trenton and Patrick Houlihan

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 
1986 
Review of Native Faces: Indian Cultures in American Art by 
Patricia Trenton and Patrick Houlihan 
Patricia Trenton 
Patrick Houlihan 
Marsha V. Gallagher 
Joslyn Art Museum 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly 
 Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons 
Trenton, Patricia; Houlihan, Patrick; and Gallagher, Marsha V., "Review of Native Faces: Indian Cultures in 
American Art by Patricia Trenton and Patrick Houlihan" (1986). Great Plains Quarterly. 898. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/898 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an 
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
62 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 1986 
Native Faces: Indian Cultures in American Art. 
By Patricia Trenton and Patrick Houlihan. 
Los Angeles: LAACO Incorporated and 
the Southwest Museum, 1984. Photo-
graphs, maps, notes, collections and exhibi-
tions. xiii + 117 pp. Paper $15.95. 
Native Faces is the catalogue to an exhibi-
tion of the same name presented at the 
Southwest Museum in Los Angeles in 1984 
and at Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum in 1985. 
The show featured late nineteenth and early 
twentieth century paintings of California, 
Southwest, and Plains Indian subjects by well-
known artists such as Joseph Sharp, Ernest 
Blumenschein and E. Irving Couse. The 
paintings were shown with related Indian 
artifacts and historic photographs. The cata-
logue focuses on sixteen of the paintings and 
their related material, with commentary on 
each by Patricia Trenton, an art historian, and 
Patrick Houlihan, an anthropologist. 
In their preface the authors urge a multidi-
mensional viewpoint in the examination of art 
depicting the Indian and his culture, stating 
that such works "are often valuable research 
documents for both historians and anthropol-
ogists." They further state that "the paintings 
in this exhibition embody a wide spectrum of 
valuable information, from detailed ethno-
graphic observations to the subtle emotional 
reactions of the artist and his Indian models." 
The works illustrated in the catalogue were 
not created to serve as primary research 
documents in the study of Indian cultures. 
Details are often sketchy, so that Houlihan's 
commentary on the pictures frequently and 
necessarily employs phrases like "it is difficult 
to tell" or "probably depicts." In addition, the 
paintings are often, as Houlihan notes in 
referring to William Leigh's Pool at Oraibi, 
wonderful combinations of fact and fiction. To 
varying degrees this is true of a large propor-
tion of what is called "Western Art." 
Nonetheless, such pictures can be, as the 
authors contend, useful documents. They 
certainly convey the attitudes and conceptions 
of the artists and often of their audiences. 
Moreover, an understanding of an artist's style 
and predilections can allow the interpretation 
of pictures as records. Trenton's analyses 
include biographical data, quotations from the 
artists, descriptions of their studio props and, 
in some instances, photographs from which 
they may have worked. The information on 
objects and customs provided by Houlihan 
makes one examine each picture more closely 
and adds greatly to its appreciation. Native 
Faces is a fruitful collaboration and a beautiful-
ly presented book. 
MARSHA v. GALLAGHER 
Center for Western Studies 
Joslyn Art Museum 


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Review of \u3ci\u3eNative Faces: Indian Cultures in American Art\u3c/i\u3e by Patricia Trenton and Patrick Houlihan

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