Edward S. Curtis "A Diegueño of Capitan Grande" 1926 Vintage Photogravure, Cardozo Collection

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Among the most affecting portraits from the late volumes of The North American Indian, this large folio photogravure presents an … Read more Among the most affecting portraits from the late volumes of The North American Indian, this large folio photogravure presents an elderly man of the Capitan Grande Reservation — the Kumeyaay people, known in Curtis's era as the Diegueño — photographed in 1924 and published in 1926 with Portfolio XV, the Southern California installment of Curtis's monumental thirty-year project.
Curtis's late portrait style is at full strength: tight framing, raking light, and the gravure medium's velvety continuous tone rendering every strand of hair and beard against a deep umber ground. Within a decade of this sitting, the Capitan Grande community was displaced by the construction of El Capitan Reservoir, with families relocating to what became the Barona and Viejas reservations — making this a quietly important document of a specific place and moment.
This is a vintage impression from the original 1907–1930 publication, printed by the Suffolk Engraving Company of Cambridge, Massachusetts — the firm responsible for the later volumes — on the heavy cream wove sheet cataloged by the Cardozo Collection as Holland Van Gelder, one of the three papers used for original subscriber sets. Full margins, natural deckled edges, and a crisp intaglio plate mark. This is not a 1970s-era restrike, which were printed on modern papers such as Arches and Rives BFK.

Provenance is as strong as single-owner provenance gets in the Curtis market: the Christopher G. Cardozo Collection. Cardozo (1948–2021) was the foremost Curtis collector, dealer, and scholar of his generation — author of Sacred Legacy and numerous standard references. This plate retains its Cardozo inventory number, CCI-1708, in pencil on the verso, along with the collection's cataloging label.

An honest, exhibition-worthy example of Curtis's late portraiture, from the most significant Curtis collection ever assembled. Ready to frame. See less