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(page 4 of 5) In 1906 Curtis approached railroad tycoon J.P. Morgan to request financial assistance for his project. Morgan agreed to pay him a total of $75,000, or $15,000 a year for five years. Curtis' masterwork, The North American Indian, he and Morgan decided, would be a set of 20 volumes of ethnographic text illustrated with high quality photoengravings taken from his glass plate negatives. Each of these volumes would be accompanied by a portfolio of large size images, all sumptuously bound in Moroccan leather. The papers used for printing would also be of the best quality: a Dutch etching stock by Van Gelder, a Japanese vellum, and for the most discerning subscribers, a translucent Japanese tissue paper. To fund publication, Curtis would sell subscriptions at approximately $3,000 per set, with a total of 500 sets to be published. President Roosevelt agreed to write the forward for the project. In return for his investment, Morgan would receive 25 sets of The North American Indian and 500 original photographs. Curtis received his first check of $15,000 from Morgan on March 30, 1906. From then on, Curtis was constantly working and photographing in the field, giving lectures and slide shows throughout the United States, and all the while struggling to market The North American Indian. It was soon evident that the completion date for the project would far extend the original estimate of five years. Meanwhile, the Seattle studio was doing quite well under Adolph Muhr's direction. It attracted a number of talented assistants, including Imogen Cunningham, who spent over two years working in the darkroom under Muhr's tutelage. When Muhr died in 1913, management of the studio went to Ella McBride, a photographer and mountain climber from Portland. While the studio had an excellent reputation and a loyal clientele, the cost of printing Curtis' Indian images consumed much of the studio's profits. After wages were paid, very little was left for Curtis' family. Curtis' wife Clara, along with their first three children, Harold, Beth and Florence, initially accompanied Curtis on many of his trips. This grew tiring however, and Curtis' prolonged absences from Seattle put a strain on the marriage. In 1916 Clara Curtis filed for divorce. Upon settlement of the divorce in 1919, Clara was awarded everything, including the Seattle studio and all of Curtis' negatives. At this time many of the studio's glass plate negatives were destroyed. Curtis' oldest daughter, Beth, moved with Curtis to Los Angeles where they opened a studio together. His fourth child, Katherine, or "Billy," born in 1909, lived with her mother in Seattle, having very little contact with her father. By the time Curtis relocated to Los Angeles he was no longer receiving funds from J.P. Morgan, who had died in 1913. He worked alongside Beth in the studio and, when he could afford it, continued his field work for The North American Indian. In this he was accompanied by his invaluable assistant William Myers, who had been with him from the start. During this period Curtis also did some work in Hollywood, taking still photographs of Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan and working on such films as The Ten Commandments, Adam's Rib, King of Kings, and The Plainsman. By 1922 when Curtis published Volume 12 of The North American Indian after a six year lapse, Jack Morgan, the son of J.P. Morgan, had agreed to supply funds for all remaining printing costs. Struggling to come up with all additional monies, Curtis continued to work with Myers and Frederick Hodges, his editor, on the project. Myers left Curtis in 1926 and was replaced by Stewart Eastwood. In 1927 Curtis' daughter Beth provided the financing for Curtis' trip to Alaska to collect material for the last volume. Click to continue |
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