Harry Fonseca collection becomes largest individual artist acquisition at The Autry Museum of the American West
Harry Fonseca collection becomes largest individual artist acquisition at The Autry Museum of the American West
Written by Terria Smith
When most of us think of Coyote in the context of our California Native cultures, we may think of the lessons we were taught through our creation stories. What we likely do not think of is Coyote taking ballet, playing the piano, or skateboarding. But these are exactly the things Coyote does in Harry Fonseca’s works. Soon the public who go to visit the Autry Museum of the American West may become familiar with Coyote as a contemporary figure as well.
The museum recently announced that it has acquired a 900 piece collection of the late artist’s works. This includes 500 original works of art, including 19 large-scale murals; 69 sketchbooks; a selection of prints, posters, collages, and multiples; and all of Fonseca’s personal journals and papers from his estate.
“In this single step, with the acquisition of the main and the most important of the works in the estate of the late Harry Fonseca, the Autry has transformed its position as a national center of collecting, researching, and interpreting contemporary Native fine art. Fonseca already is highly respected, specifically for his immense gifts as an artist and the uniformly high quality of his prodigious volume of work. In addition, twenty-first-century art history will view him, more generally, as an undeniable and valued bridge between Native art and the broader international contemporary art world. His impact on both was seminal and enduring, and, in addition, the Autry’s pursuit of mission—interpreting the vast cultural complexities, past, present, and future, of the American West—has been profoundly enhanced.” said W. Richard West, Jr., the Autry’s President and CEO.
Amy Scott, Chief Curator for The Autry, said that the series’ St. Francis, Discovery of Gold and Souls, as well as some of Fonseca’s abstract works are included in this extensive collection. Beyond the completed works, Scott said that the sketchbooks and notes that have been acquired along with the collection are extensively meticulous, offering valuable insights for future research.
“It is rare, in my experience at least,” she said. “They’re works of art in their own right. I have never seen an artist’s estate this intact.”
Fonseca, born in 1946, was of Nisenan Maidu, Hawaiian, and Portuguese heritage. He studied with Frank LaPena (Wintu-Nomtipom/Tenai) at California State University Sacramento. Fonseca is widely known for his Coyote series – which he started in 1979 – where he portrayed a traditional figure in contemporary dress and settings – thus mirroring the experience of the modern Native American. Beyond the Native art world, Fonseca’s work is seen as especially significant and important in contemporary art.
“He connected the elements of what it means to be a contemporary Native American. What it means to be Native in the past, but what it means to be Native now. (This acquisition) is highly appropriate in my standpoint for a museum like The Autry – in Los Angeles, which is the most highly diverse cities in the country – with a mission that says that we aim at telling all the stories of the American West,” West said.
Photo caption:
Two of Fonseca’s mixed-media works (pictured) are currently on view in New Acquisitions Featuring the Kaufman Collection, an exhibition that continues through July 9, 2017. Several others will be included in the Autry’s expansive California Continued galleries opening October 9, 2016. (photos courtesy of the Autry Museum of the American West)
