Kenneth M. Adams, born Topeka, KS 1897-died Albuquerque, NM 1966 Search this
Medium:
oil on canvas
Dimensions:
25 5/8 x 21 3/8 in. (65.1 x 54.3 cm.)
Type:
Painting
Date:
ca. 1920-1930
Luce Center Label:
Kenneth Adams painted his portraits of Pueblo Indians from life. In Taos Indian Woman, his sitter stares off into space, as if her mind wandered far from the studio. Adams draped her in a Pendleton blanket that many viewers might have mistaken for an authentic Indian textile. These blankets copied Native American designs, and Pendleton Mills shipped them from Oregon to the Southwest to be exchanged for wool, silver jewelry, and other handcrafted items. American Indians wove fewer textiles as they acquired more Pendleton blankets through trading, and unsuspecting East Coast tourists collected the blankets as souvenirs of the Wild West.
