Author Description

Lavishly illustrated, Generations celebrates the nearly 800 works of Native American art in The Helen Cox Kersting Collection, including pottery, jewelry, baskets, weavings, katsinas, and paintings. Representing the work of Native artists from the late 1800s to the present, the collection demonstrates the survival and flowering of work by Navajo, Pueblo, and other American Indian artists across the generations. Helen Cox Kersting grew up in Illinois, but gained fame as an opera star in Europe. Kersting became a sophisticated collector of exceptional work by famed jewelers, such as Leo Poblano, John Gordon Leak, Charles Loloma, and Frank Dishta, and she was fascinated by the pottery of masters such as Maria Martinez, Lucy Lewis, Margaret Tafoya, and Nampeyo. Creations by leading Native artists today, including brilliant works by Veronica Poblano, Tammy Garcia, Grace Medicine Flower, Jacob Koopee, and Les Namingha, were added to the collection. Generations presents a visual feast of Native arts of the American Southwest, with approximately 550 color plates. Essays by James H. Nottage, Diana F. Pardue (Heard Museum), and Bruce Bernstein (Santa Fe Indian Market) provide insights into the history of the collection.