The New York Historical announced yesterday that it will receive a major bequest of modern and contemporary works by Native American artists from board chair Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang and her husband, Oscar Tang. The bequest includes pieces by more than 100 artists of Indigenous heritage, from early 20th-century potter Nampeyo of Hano (Tewa) to contemporary painter and sculptor Jeffrey Gibson (Choctaw/Cherokee).
The promised gift coincides with the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New York Historical, said in a statement, “This gift and the accompanying milestone exhibition further exemplify Agnes’s institutional vision as board chair, which began with the critically acclaimed 2023 exhibition ‘Kay WalkingStick/Hudson River School,’ to foreground Indigenous cultural expressions and advance an artistic and historical discourse that illuminates the integral role of Indigenous histories in the shaping of the United States.”
The New York Historical will celebrate the bequest with the exhibition “House Made of Dawn: Art by Native Americans 1880 to Now, Selections from the Hsu-Tang Collection,” which will be on view from April 22 through August 2. Organized by Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto (Native Hawaiian), NYH vice president and chief curator, the show will feature works in a range of mediums, starting with late 19th-century and early 20th-century artists such as ceramist Maria Martinez (San Ildefonso), illustrator Angel De Cora (Ho-Chunk), and poet and opera composer Zitkala-Ša (Yankton Dakota).
The presentation will also introduce Flatstyle painters like Gerónima Montoya (Ohkay Owingeh) and the Kiowa Six; mid-20th century masters Oscar Howe (Yanktonai Dakota) and George Morrison (Ojibwe); photographer Lee Marmon (Laguna), whose work will be seen for the first time in a New York museum; Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith (Salish) and Emmi Whitehorse (Navajo), founders of the collective Grey Canyon Artists (1977–1981); and faculty and students of Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Arts, inaugurated in 1962.
Below are eight works from the Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar Tang promised gift.
