Untitled (Geronimo/Goyathlay)
Artist
Joseph Kahze
(American, Mescalero Apache)
Date20th Century
Mediumbeadwork on canvas
DimensionsImage: 9 15/16 × 5 3/4 in. (25.2 × 14.6 cm)
Support: 11 15/16 × 7 5/8 in. (30.3 × 19.4 cm)
Support: 11 15/16 × 7 5/8 in. (30.3 × 19.4 cm)
ClassificationsTextile
Credit LineGift of Edith and Ernest Schwartz, 2008
Object number2014.13
DescriptionBeadwork depicting Apache leader Geronimo/Goyathlay based on a well-known historical photograph.Text Entries
This work appropriates a well-known, iconic 1887 photograph of Bedonkohe Apache leader Geronimo for its composition. The use of this image of Geronimo (Goyathlay) clutching a rifle rendered in beading suggests a critical perspective on the history of NM and SW Apaches. Geronimo fought against colonization of Apache homelands and aggressively pursued revenge attacks against Mexicans after his mother, wife and children were killed in a raid by Spanish Mexican soldiers. He later added US whites to his vendetta. He is known as the “last Apache holdout” and has become a symbol of Indigenous People’s resistance.
The artist is Mescalero Apache. He brought work to the frame shop that framed this piece every other year or so until about 2006. His estimated age is around 40 (in 2014). The gallery/frame shop did not have current contact information. He was not known to the Mescalero Cultural Center staff.
This artwork was donated in 2008 as a part of a very large gift to DCA. The Art Museum has been slowly distributing the collection amongst the four museums and selling off the rest. If this work is not acquired for the permanent collection then it will be sold with the remaining artwork from the Schwartz collection.
Work was misidentified on the 2008 appraisal and passed over during the initial distribution of the collection. When collection was reviewed again in 2012 for sale, the work was reviewed again. Due to staff changes the final decision regarding disposition was delayed until 2014.
Per the curator's decision that this work would not be exhibited in its original mat and frame, the object was removed at the time the condition report was completed. The original mat and frame were kept as well as the inscription information found on the frame backing board. The backing board is now housed in the Accession file.
On View
Not on viewJoseph Henry Sharp
circa 1895