Indigenous Beauty

Drawn from the celebrated Native American art collection of Charles and Valerie Diker, Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Diker Collection at the Seattle Art Museum features 122 masterworks representing tribes and First Nations across the North American continent. These captivating objects convey the extraordinary breadth and variety of Native American experience in North America. The exhibition shows the deep historical roots of Native art and its dynamism, as well as the living cultures and traditions of Native American groups through to the contemporary era. Indigenous Beauty emphasizes three interrelated themes—diversity, beauty, and knowledge—that relate both to the works’ original contexts and to the ways in which they might be experienced by non-Native visitors in a contemporary museum setting.

For more information, visit the exhibition's official website.

Man's summer coat  -  Naskapi, Labrador  -  1840

Snow goggles  -  Ipiutak, Alaska  -  5th–10th century

Mask  -  Yup'ik, Alaska  -  1916–1918

Katsina  -  Hopi, Arizona  -  1910–1930

Images courtesy of the Seattle Art Museum

Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art

Through September 12, the Seattle Art Museum presents Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection. Featuring more than 100 works created from 1970 through 2009, the exhibition showcases what has been called the artistic renaissance of the world’s oldest living culture.

View the exhibition's official website.

Mitjili Napanangka Gibson  -  Warlpiri people  -  Wilkinkarra (2007)

Regina Pilawuk Wilson  -  Marathiel people - Sun Mat (2002)

Tjumpo Tjapanangka  -  Kukatja people  -  Wati Kutjarra (Two Brothers Dreaming) (2004) 

Kathleen Petyarr  -  Anmatyerr people  -  Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming (1996)

Information and images courtesy of the Seattle Art Museum