The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and its museum-partnership initiative, the Art Bridges Foundation, have acquired 90 contemporary works made by Indigenous artists.
The pieces originate from the St Louis-based John and Susan Horseman Collection, which boasts a special focus on Native and African American artists. Art Bridges has acquired 81 works, which will be available as long-term museum loans across the country as part of the foundation’s art-sharing programme. With this acquisition, one third of the Art Bridges Collection is now contemporary Indigenous art. The nine remaining works will go to Crystal Bridges.
Pieces by Kent Monkman, Tyrell Tapaha, George Morrison, Oscar Howe, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Rick Bartow, Kay WalkingStick, James Lavadour, Emmi Whitehorse, Brad Kahlhamer, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Rose B. Simpson, Roxanne Swentzell and T.C. Cannon feature in this procurement.
“Indigenous perspectives are foundational to any American art collection,” Ashley Holland, the curator and director of curatorial initiatives at Art Bridges, said in a statement. “We are honoured to continue our deep support of Indigenous art with this acquisition and look forward to sharing these works with audiences around the country through our loan programme.”
The acquisition is part of Crystal Bridges’ larger collecting strategy of expanding its holdings in craft and Indigenous art. Prior to this latest haul, pieces by Native artists only comprised 3% of the museum’s total collection. Its last major acquisition of Native art was in 2020, when Crystal Bridges received 35 works from the collector Bruce Hartman, including 20th-century examples from the Santa Fe Indian School and the Kiowa Five/Six artists of Oklahoma.
George Morrison’s Traversal (1958) Art Bridges
Works from the Horseman acquisition will go on display in the coming months. Art Bridges, which was founded in 2017 to fund exhibitions around the US highlighting American art, will loan its 81 works to the new Alice L. Walton School of Medicine for a show opening on 3 November. Three other pieces—Cannon’s It’s A Good Day to Die (1970), Swentzell’s The Corn Mothers are Crying (2015) and Monkman’s Saving the Newcomers (2023)—will go on view at Crystal Bridges next year as part of its campus expansion. In 2027, additional pieces will be included in the exhibition Made in Beauty, a rumination on the historical and contemporary art of Indigenous peoples. Art Bridges will then start loaning the Horseman works to carefully selected partner institutions.
The Horsemans founded their collection in 2012 with an eye towards uplifting historically under-represented artists. John Horseman told Artnews that he hopes his donation allows contemporary Indigenous works to live alongside those of non-Native artists, calling the combination “a breath of fresh air”.
“My wife, Susan, and I are grateful to have this opportunity to share on a greater scale artworks and artists about whom we care deeply,” he said in a statement. ”We have always believed that these Indigenous creatives belong in the canon of American art. This is art that should be seen and artists that should be known.”
Jordan Poorman Cocker, the curator of Indigenous art at the Crystal Bridges Museum, told Artnews: "Arkansas is on the Trail of Tears, so shows should be led by its survivors, and museums ought to create space for joy and continuity, and educate people about the place they’re in. Success looks like excitement from the community and willingness to collaborate and share in this redesigned museum space; this acquisition is one step in the right direction.”