Post by brentnvicki on Jun 14, 2008 9:16:57 GMT -5
press release for the late David Humphreys Miller showing of the Survivors During Victory Week in Montana which starts next weekend. 6-21-08. Mr. Miller at the age of 15 drove from Van Wert,Ohio to Montana by himself to find survivors from the battle of Little Big Horn. He did not believe his history teachers when they taught him how the battle took place when he knew all the witness to the battle on the 7th's side died that day. Mr Miller went on to write a book from the Native Americans side of the story "CUSTER'S STAND" one of the best accounts of that day. He also wrote about the Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee. His legacy in my opinion is about to be destroyed if we can't find the right people to step in and save it. He painted portraits of 72 survivors and was adopted by many members of the plains Indians. Some Historians today are down playing his research and his paintings. These paintings need to be owned by the Native Americans and I have been on a 2 year mission to make that happen. Mr. Miller is from my home town and I have been collecting his paintings and his mother and fathers paintings since the mid 70's. This collection of painting and artifacts must be kept together. These are the original field sketch's he did between 1935 and 1940's. I have been invited to attend next weekend and would encourage anyone that can make it to come and view these historic warriors and then tell me if it is OK to sell them at auction piece by piece to the highest bidder. I am looking for someone in the Native American Community that will join my cause. It is your story and I need your help.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Doug Johns
8 May 2008 Johns Western Gallery
250 Sutter Street #350
San Francisco CA 94108
(415) 837-1656
dcjohns@sbcglobal.net
Van Wert, Ohio to the Little Big Horn & Beyond:
An Exhibition of David Humphreys Miller Sketch & Oil
Portraits of Sioux, Crow, Cheyenne & Blackfoot Warriors.
A remarkable free exhibition of art and artifacts documenting the era of the Plains warrior culture will open at Pacific Galleries, 901 Ninth Street North, Great Falls, Montana, on June 21 and continue through June 29. This week is recognized as “Victory” week by tribes celebrating their triumph over Gen. George Armstrong Custer on June 25, 1876. The exhibit includes over 100 original portrait sketches including Little Big Horn survivors and their contemporaries as well as 24 painted portraits of prominent Blackfoot and Crow warriors.
All of the artwork is by the late David Humphreys Miller and the artifacts represent items gifted to Miller by portrait subjects. The portrait sketches were all drawn from life by then teenager Miller in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Also on exhibit will be a number of period photographs from the same era.
All is the result of a young David Miller’s curiosity about the Battle of the Little Big Horn that first brought him to Pine Ridge, South Dakota from Van Wert, Ohio in 1935 to interview and sketch the old warriors who participated in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Miller’s interviews became the source for his 1957 book, Custer’s Fall: The Indian Side of the Story. While doing research for a later book, Ghost Dance, Miller interviewed and painted Blackfeet, Flatheads, Crows and Northern Cheyennes to document the spread of the “messiah” movement in the late 1880’s culminating in the Wounded Knee massacre. The oil portraits date from the era immediately following World War II.
Van Wert native, Brent Stevens, and his wife Vicki have been instrumental in searching out documentation confirming Miller’s early life and presence on the South Dakota reservations in the 1930s. The Little Big Horn & Beyond exhibition is presented by Johns’ Western Gallery of San Francisco, California, and Wrangler Gallery of Sun River, Montana. Questions about the exhibition may be directed to Doug Johns at 888-543-9378 or Brad Hamlett at 406-799-5885.
To preview all of the sketches and paintings, go to johnswesterngallery.com and click on Gallery & Bookshop, then click on Little Big Horn & Beyond: Miller Collection.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Links to hi-res tiff artwork:
www.johnswesterngallery.com/images/Joseph-White-Cow-Bull.tif
www.johnswesterngallery.com/images/DHMIller-JWhite-Cow-Bull.tif
For Immediate Release
Contact: Doug Johns
8 May 2008 Johns Western Gallery
250 Sutter Street #350
San Francisco CA 94108
(415) 837-1656
dcjohns@sbcglobal.net
Van Wert, Ohio to the Little Big Horn & Beyond:
An Exhibition of David Humphreys Miller Sketch & Oil
Portraits of Sioux, Crow, Cheyenne & Blackfoot Warriors.
A remarkable free exhibition of art and artifacts documenting the era of the Plains warrior culture will open at Pacific Galleries, 901 Ninth Street North, Great Falls, Montana, on June 21 and continue through June 29. This week is recognized as “Victory” week by tribes celebrating their triumph over Gen. George Armstrong Custer on June 25, 1876. The exhibit includes over 100 original portrait sketches including Little Big Horn survivors and their contemporaries as well as 24 painted portraits of prominent Blackfoot and Crow warriors.
All of the artwork is by the late David Humphreys Miller and the artifacts represent items gifted to Miller by portrait subjects. The portrait sketches were all drawn from life by then teenager Miller in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Also on exhibit will be a number of period photographs from the same era.
All is the result of a young David Miller’s curiosity about the Battle of the Little Big Horn that first brought him to Pine Ridge, South Dakota from Van Wert, Ohio in 1935 to interview and sketch the old warriors who participated in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Miller’s interviews became the source for his 1957 book, Custer’s Fall: The Indian Side of the Story. While doing research for a later book, Ghost Dance, Miller interviewed and painted Blackfeet, Flatheads, Crows and Northern Cheyennes to document the spread of the “messiah” movement in the late 1880’s culminating in the Wounded Knee massacre. The oil portraits date from the era immediately following World War II.
Van Wert native, Brent Stevens, and his wife Vicki have been instrumental in searching out documentation confirming Miller’s early life and presence on the South Dakota reservations in the 1930s. The Little Big Horn & Beyond exhibition is presented by Johns’ Western Gallery of San Francisco, California, and Wrangler Gallery of Sun River, Montana. Questions about the exhibition may be directed to Doug Johns at 888-543-9378 or Brad Hamlett at 406-799-5885.
To preview all of the sketches and paintings, go to johnswesterngallery.com and click on Gallery & Bookshop, then click on Little Big Horn & Beyond: Miller Collection.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Links to hi-res tiff artwork:
www.johnswesterngallery.com/images/Joseph-White-Cow-Bull.tif
www.johnswesterngallery.com/images/DHMIller-JWhite-Cow-Bull.tif