Native American Treasures Recognized as American Art

Randy Kennedy of the New York Times reports that for the first time, Native American treasures will be exhibited in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Charles and Valerie Diker was largely formed with the assistance of Donald Ellis Gallery.

This collection of Native American art, one of the most important in private hands, will be gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an addition to their permanent collections.

In a radical break with the past, the Diker Collection will not be exhibited in galleries reserved for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, but integrated within the American Wing. The curatorial decision was made ‘to display art from the first Americans within its appropriate geographical context,’ according to the museum. This stance signals a fundamental shift in the representation of Indigenous art in American institutions. ‘We’re really behind the curve,’ Sylvia Yount, curator in charge of the wing observes. Countries like Canada and Australia have long included Indigenous works as part of the narrative of a nation’s art.

Most major American art museums have limited holdings of historical Native American works of art. As Kennedy notes, ‘the sometimes-troubled history of sizable collections of Native art in natural history museums, where the work is usually presented ethnographically, underscores those gaps.’ Curators are addressing the immense distance yet to be traveled before Native American art is given its due in public collections.

The new installation not only highlights the complex diversity of American art history but reveals important relationships between art created by distinct groups. ‘We always felt that what we were collecting was American art,’ Mr. Diker said in an interview with the New York Times. ‘And we always felt very strongly that it should be shown in that context.’

The gift will be unveiled in a major exhibition scheduled for fall 2018.