Plains Graphic Art Traditions

AUGUST 2021 EXHIBITION

OPENING RECEPTION:
SATURDAY, AUGUST 14, 2021

Morning Star is pleased to present our Summer 2021 exhibition and sale. This exhibition will feature material that explores 3 diverse but related categories - Ledger Art, Parfleche and Beadwork - that help make up the Graphic Art Traditions of the Plains.

Ledger Art (drawings on paper)

Historically a men’s art form, early ledger drawings (1860-1880) were drawings on ledger paper that recorded a warrior’s accomplishments achieved in battle. These achievements helped him gain status and hopefully lead to a position of leadership within his group. The antecedents of ledger drawings can be traced back to the early 19th C. when paintings on buffalo hides and tanned hide shirts served a similar function. If we look back even further to the pre-contact era, we find pictographs and petroglyphs “drawn” on rocks and cave walls that recorded an individual or group’s important events.

Parfleche (painting on hide)

Traditionally a women’s art form, parfleche are folded rawhide storage containers with finely painted surfaces of primarily geometric elements. Parfleche were made in various forms and used by most of the nomadic or semi-nomadic groups of the Plains, Plateau, and Intermontane to store the family’s possessions. The origins of parfleche are still a bit hazy, but are clearly an ancient art form. The earliest known examples have incised, rather than painted, designs. Contemporary art collectors immediately gravitate to parfleche and the abstract nature of the painted design elements.

Beadwork (beading on tanned hide)

Another traditional women’s art form, women used locally tanned hide as a canvas to embroider glass trade beads manufactured in Europe beginning in the mid-19th C. Before the introduction of glass beads, women utilized porcupine quill and paint for their decorative materials. This new combination of materials led to arguably the most recognizable art form created by Plains artists.

 During the mid-19th C. as trade and trade goods became a larger part of the Indigenous People’s economies, aesthetic and decorative trends transformed from generalized regional styles to tribally identifiable variations with recognizable preferences.