An Apache Babe

About this piece

An original Edward Curtis photogravure for sale, “An Apache Babe” is a tender, close-framed portrait of an Apache infant from Curtis’s series The North American Indian. It is among the more intimate images in the project, and Curtis’s soft light and shallow framing give it real warmth. The print is a genuine hand-pulled impression from the original copper plates, the source of its delicate sepia tones and fine gradation, and the clearest sign of an authentic Curtis photogravure over a reprint. At a more intimate 15” x 9”, it suits a close, considered hanging where its detail can be appreciated. Drawn from one of only four known volumes struck from Curtis’s original plates, it is a true collector’s photogravure, an Edward Curtis original print valued as both early twentieth-century fine art photography and a rare, gentle study of Apache childhood.