ID#:
1984.0018.000014
Description:
Chief Seattle, 1951—1952
Linocut on paper
Gift of Helmi Juvonen and Wesley Wehr, 1984.18.14
Helmi captures the power of Chief Sealth, the last leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes, through the dynamism of abstraction. The profile of this man, after whom Seattle is named, can be deciphered from an array of interconnecting lines. Surrealistic, automatic drawing techniques of spontaneity and free association define this print.
For initial inspiration, Helmi probably turned to one of two sculptures by James Wehn, who was commissioned to create a bust of Chief Sealth for Pioneer Square and a life—sized bronze for Tilikum Place at Fifth Avenue in 1912. Both bronzes were based on the only extant photographic portrait of the chief, dated 1864, two years before his death, by E.M. Sammis.
Linocut on paper
Gift of Helmi Juvonen and Wesley Wehr, 1984.18.14
Helmi captures the power of Chief Sealth, the last leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes, through the dynamism of abstraction. The profile of this man, after whom Seattle is named, can be deciphered from an array of interconnecting lines. Surrealistic, automatic drawing techniques of spontaneity and free association define this print.
For initial inspiration, Helmi probably turned to one of two sculptures by James Wehn, who was commissioned to create a bust of Chief Sealth for Pioneer Square and a life—sized bronze for Tilikum Place at Fifth Avenue in 1912. Both bronzes were based on the only extant photographic portrait of the chief, dated 1864, two years before his death, by E.M. Sammis.
Click to Enlarge
