A Journal for Classic Western Art
| July/August 2012
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WHAT'S GOING ON
This summer marks two special occasions: the 25th anniversary of Zaplin Lampert Gallery on Canyon Road and the 60 years of friendship between the two gallery owners, Mark Zaplin and Richard Lampert.
To help celebrate this extraordinary history of friendship and business, we begin this issue with a story of the circumstances that led two childhood playmates to maintain their allegiance from personal friendship to a lasting business.
Much of this issue is dedicated to the work of Edward S. Curtis. As you will learn, it was his photographs that inspired the young men, in Boston and just 20 years old, to open the door that led them into the world of historical Western art. It is a fascinating story that ultimately led Mark and Richard to establish their gallery in Santa Fe.
As always, we welcome you to view a selection of our new acquisitions, enjoy our online exhibition, and to read about local events in Santa Fe as well as in museums nationwide. And please remember, do stop by and visit us when you are in Santa Fe, because as Richard is fond of saying, "Online is fine, in person is better!"
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| CONTACT US | | 651 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
505/982-6100
gallery@zaplinlampert.com
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Twenty-five Years on Canyon Road
& Sixty Years of Friendship
Mark Zaplin and Richard Lampert arrived in Santa Fe in the fall of 1977. As young men, just 24 years old, they came with a U-Haul filled with all of the belongings typical for their age except one thing that was quite out of the ordinary: among their possessions was the entire remaining cache of works by the noted Western photographer, Edward S. Curtis.
Having grown up in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, the two are truly "life-long" friends, for they were born within 12 days of one another and their parents were already good friends who lived one block apart. Therefore the boys played together, went to school together, went to ball games together, and even learned the "fine art of selling," as Richard puts it, having sold lemonade, Fuller Brush items, and the Great Books of the Western World (the last being the obvious stepping stone to the works of Curtis).
In 1972, Mark and Richard were each enrolled in college. They had become familiar with the photographs of Edward Curtis and when they discovered that the entire remaining estate of the photographer lay in storage, available for sale at a rare book store in Boston, they arranged to buy it. From that fortuitous moment, Mark and Richard set out to learn everything they could about Curtis: his career, his monumental 30-year project that resulted in "The North American Indian," and all the varied facets of his photographic oeuvre. In order to do this, much to the chagrin of their parents, they quit college. Over the next several years, the two criss-crossed the country and worked with museums and galleries to discuss, exhibit, and sell the photographs. They moved to Boulder, Seattle, and San Francisco, sometimes together, sometimes separately. After this somewhat transient five years of "cold-plunge education," Mark and Richard decided to bring their expertise to Santa Fe because it was a place that would suit the Curtis photographs; they would be at home there. And as Mark and Richard quickly discovered, they would too.
 Richard and Mark at the gallery in 1987 Since those early days, interest in the photographs of Edward S. Curtis has surged. In fact, last month a complete set of "The North American Indian" sold at auction for $2,900,000. Mark and Richard had the right instincts about this work, but could not predict just how much interest would grow. That is unfortunate, because during the thirty-some years since they began, twenty-five complete sets have passed through their hands!
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EDWARD SHERIFF CURTIS:
"The Man Who Never Took Time to Play"
 Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952)
"Three Chiefs"
Goldtone photograph
8 x 10 inches
At the age of 83, looking back upon his life and accomplishments, the photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis said that if he were to adopt the Native American naming tradition, he would be called "The Man Who Never Took Time to Play." But Curtis could also have been called "The Man Who Dreams Big." How else could he have accomplished what he did, if he had not been a man equipped with an unfettered imagination teamed with the will and determination that allowed him to conjure such an impossible idea and ultimately fulfill it?
In 1900 Curtis sat on horseback at the edge of a towering bluff in Montana, overlooking a vast plain with a companion, George Bird Grinnell, the editor of Forest and Stream who became known as "Father of the Blackfoot People." The pair were witnessing the confluence of multiple Native American tribes. Before them and far into the distance bustling activity prevailed. There were numerous people, adults and children, along with tipis, animals, wagons and all of their implements filling the plain to the far horizon as they readied themselves for their annual Sun Dance. Curtis later described the scene: "The sight of that great encampment of prairie Indians was unforgettable. Neither house nor fence marred the landscape. The broad, undulating prairie stretching toward the Little Rockies, miles to the west, was carpeted with tipis. The Blood and Blackfeet from Canada were also arriving for a visit with their fellow Algonquin." The moment would alter the course of Curtis's life and career forever.
For Curtis, the sight brought to him a foreboding sense of profound loss, the loss of a vanishing race. The experience led to the project for which the photographer has become
 Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952)
"Geronimo"
Platinum photograph
famous: the study of some eighty North American Indian tribes, ... to continue, click here.
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NEW ACQUISITIONS
Peter Hurd (1904-1984)
"My Daughter Carol"
Egg tempera on masonite
25 1/4 x 30 1/4 inches
Signed lower left
1946
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902)
"Champion Trotter"
Oil on canvas
19 x 25 inches
Signed lower left and dated 1860
Gerard Curtis Delano (1890-1972)
"Fur Trappers"
Oil on board
20 x 24 inches
Signed lower right
Rebecca Salsbury James (1891-1968)
"Niche"
Reverse paint on glass
11 11/16 x 13 11/16 inches
Signed, titled and dated verso
1934
Eanger Irving Couse (1866-1936)
"Apache Water Bottle"
Oil on artist board
7 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches
Signed lower left
Gustave Baumann (1881-1971)
"Rain in the Mountains"
Color woodblock print
Ed. 8 of 50
9 1/4 x 11 inches
To view more of our new acquisitions, click here.
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ONLINE EXHIBITION
The Iconic Images of Edward S. Curtis
"Cañon del Muerto"
Goldtone photograph
14 x 11 inches
"The Scout"
Goldtone photograph
11 x 14 inches
"Nampeyo"
Platinum photograph
7 3/4 x 5 7/8 inches
"Oasis in the Badlands"
Platinum photograph
9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches
To view more of our online exhibition, click here.
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STAY TUNED FOR OUR UPCOMING EXHIBITION THE WORKS OF THOMAS AND PETER MORAN October, 2012
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MUSEUM NEWS NATIONWIDE
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
"Rembrandt in America"
Through September 16, 2012
This exhibition presents paintings by Rembrandt and his followers as well as works that were once considered "attributed to" Rembrandt. It is displayed with interesting and engaging information designed to help the viewer in terms of discernment and the underlying questions of authenticity.
Detroit Institute of Arts
"Five Spanish Masterpieces"
Through August 19, 2012
For lovers of Spanish art: The Detroit Institute of Arts is celebrating the return of its "Melancholy Woman" by Pablo Picasso after two years of absence. (It was on loan.) This exhibition places the Picasso painting in company with other great Spanish paintings by distinguished masters that have been loaned from various museums. On exhibit are "Portrait of the Matador Pedro Romero," by Francisco de Goya, from the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; "The Holy Family with St. Anne and the Infant St. John the Baptist," by El Greco, from the Prado Museum, Madrid; "Soft Construction with Boiled Beans," by Salvador Dalí from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; "Portrait of a Man," by Diego Velázquez from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York City
"The Coe Collection of American Indian Art"
Through October 14, 2012
For more museum information, click here.
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| SANTA FE & NEW MEXICO EVENTS
Selected local exhibits and events:
61st Annual Traditional Spanish Market
Santa Fe Plaza
July 28- 29, 2012
Preview: Friday July 27, 7 p.m. Santa Fe Convention Center (membership required)
The weekend market will be the culmination of a week-long celebration of Hispanic heritage and culture.
For more information call 505.982.2226.
Santa Fe Indian Market
Santa Fe Plaza
August 18-19, 2012
Best of Show Ceremony and Previews of Award Winning Art: Friday, August 17
For more information call 505.983.5220.
New Mexico History Museum
Santa Fe
"Treasures of Devotion" (Tesoros de Devocion)
Works from the collection of Larry Frank
Ongoing
Over four decades Larry Frank built an important collection of New Mexican santos. Following his death in 2006 it was donated to the Museum of New Mexico. The collection of hand-made religious objects, carved and painted by New Mexico's santeros during the Spanish Colonial and Territorial eras, comprises bultos (figurines), retablos (paintings on panels of pine), as well as paintings on animal skins.
New Mexico Museum of Art
Santa Fe
"Treasures Seldom Seen"
Ongoing
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Thank you for joining us.
Please send us your comments and
stop by the gallery next time you are in Santa Fe.
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