Skip to main content

Indians of Virginia

Collections Menu
Photography by Dwight Primiano
Indians of Virginia
Photography by Dwight Primiano

Indians of Virginia

Artist (ca. 1635 - ca. 1695)
Dateca. 1675
MediumOil on linen
Dimensions29 3/4 x 42 3/4 in. (75.6 x 108.6 cm)
Framed: 37 1/4 in. × 50 in. × 1 3/4 in.
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.10
Signedl.r., on canoe, in dark brown paint: J: Wooldrig: l.c.: traces of another signature, exactly like this one, now mostly painted out with artist's paint, around h 3 1/2", w 18 1/2"
Accession number 2006.10
On View
On view
ProvenanceEdward Conway [ca. 1623-1683], 1st Earl of Conway, Warwickshire, England, 17th century; Francis Seymour-Conway [1718-1794], 1st Marquess of Hertford, 1732; by descent in the family; Eric Elgar Villiers Hall, London, England; to Harry Shaw Newman, (The Old Print Shop, New York, NY) 1958; Private Collection; (William Reese Company, New Haven, CT), 2005; purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2006
Label TextEuropean artists often presented the rituals, food, and accessories of Indigenous peoples as exotic and mysterious, but also reassuringly familiar. In this painting, the artist used classical poses for the figures, and emphasized a complex and sophisticated culture with organized religion and agriculture that was relatable to Europeans.

James Wooldridge spent his career in London and never himself encountered Native Americans. This painting is a composite of images from several engravings of Carolina Algonquians made by Theodore De Bry in 1590.

A menudo, los artistas europeos presentaban los rituales, alimentos y accesorios de los pueblos indígenas como exóticos y misteriosos, pero también tranquilizadoramente conocidos. En esta pintura, el artista presenta las figuras en poses clásicas, y enfatiza una cultura compleja y sofisticada con agricultura y religión organizada, con las cuales los europeos podían sentir una conexión.

James Wooldridge permaneció en Londres durante toda su carrera, y nunca conoció a ningún indio norteamericano. Esta pintura es una compuesto de varias imágenes de grabados de los algonquinos de Carolina realizados por Theodore De Bry en 1590.