At the Old Well- Acoma. Edward Curtis Centennial edition goldtone 15/100. 18" x 22", Frame 24" x 28". Negative date 1904, print date 2000. At the Old Well, 1904 was one of Curtis' most popular images and one of his most broadly collected both as goldtone and platinum print. The beautiful subject matter and the lyrical qualities of the water and the composition have made this a very enduring image, and it remains nearly as popular now as it was one hundred years ago. This image was made near the pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico. Acoma remains a vibrant pueblo to this day with many active artisans still making traditional style pots.
This original Goldtone photograph is hand-produced from a vintage negative by Edward S. Curtis. It was printed by the Curtis Centennial Project, Inc. in 1999. Edard Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) was one of this country’s preeminent photographers and created a body of work that is absolutely unparallel in the history of photography and ethnography. Curtis was a pioneer of the Goldtone (or orotone) process and its most ardent proponent. He wrote of the process: The ordinary photographic print, however good, lacks depth, lacks transparency, or more strictly speaking, lacks translucency. We all know how beautiful the stone and pebbles are in a limpid brook of the forest where the water absorbs the blue of the sky and the green of the foliage. Yet when we take the same iridescent pebbles from the water and dry them they are dull and lifeless. So it is with the orthodox photographic print, but in the orotone all the translucency is retained, and they are as full of life and sparkle as an opal. Curtis Centennial Project has itself pioneered many new techniques and processes in producing its Goldtones and is now, after over three years of experimentation, able to produce Goldtones that are unparalleled in their beauty, consistency and archival stability.
PERIOD: Mid 20th Century
ORIGIN: Minnesota, United States
SIZE: 18" x 22", Frame 24" x 28"