Artist: Edward S. Curtis
Title: "The Three Chiefs - Piegan"
Negative Date: 1900
Print Date: 2008
Photographic Medium: Goldtone™
Image Size: 14" x 17"(35.6cm x 43.2cm)
Framed Size: 19" x 22"(48.2cm x 55.8cm)
Choice of contemporary or classic frame included.

The gallery retail for this photograph is $3,500
Auction Estimate: $3,000 - $3,200

Edition: 48/250
Note: Due to the unavailability of critical, propriety materials, we anticipate only being able to complete, on average, 15% - 20% of projected editions of the Goldtones.(Please note, with a small number of the most popular and iconic images we hope to complete 40% - 100% of the projected edition.)

The Three Chiefs - Piegan, 1900
“The Three Chiefs” is, historically, arguably the single most important of Curtis’ 50,000 photographic images. The photograph was made in the summer of 1900 and is the key image from that critical, watershed experience in Curtis’ life. It was during this short field trip to Montana with noted ethnographer George Bird Grinnell that Curtis first encountered Native Americans whose culture was still largely intact and who were also willing to share their religion, mythology, and personal lives with him. This brief experience ignited Cutis’ passion to preserve a comprehensive record of Native American life. This two-week experience inalterably changed Curtis and his life was never the same again. It is said that in making this image of three tribal leaders in their traditional garb on a typical upland prairie that Curtis spent three days looking for the perfect combination of riders, sky, and prairie.

This Centennial Edition™ was created using a proprietary process invented by Cardozo Fine Art in 1998. The goldtone process is an extremely rare form of photographic printing and our Goldtones™ are created in strictly limited editions. Centennial Edition Goldtones™ are created exclusively from Curtis' original glass plate negatives and therefore are contemporary original prints, not reproductions. Goldtones™ are printed directly on a high quality optical glass which is coated with a rich, unique, and custom formulated emulsion. The exposed sensitized glass plates are processed with traditional photographic chemistry and then toned twice for superb archival permanence and a warm sepia tonality. Each Goldtone™ is then backed with multiple microfine layers of brilliant golden metallic particles and finally treated with an inert archival sealant. Goldtones™ have a luminosity and three-dimensionality that is unequaled by any other photographic medium. The complexity and expense of producing goldtones in Curtis’ day meant that he printed only about 1 in 1,000 of his negatives as goldtones. Each contemporary, limited edition Goldtone™ and frame are the result of over sixty separate, distinct steps. The frame, which is a beautiful handcrafted recreation of Curtis' vintage frames, is custom made of wood and various traditional materials. We are pleased to offer this unique American treasure to a new audience of discerning collectors.

Goldtone, or Orotone, was a process of producing photographic images on glass, with a gold metallic backing, and was pioneered by Edward S. Curtis 100 years ago. It was his most favored way of producing his photographic images. These limited edition Goldtones™, by Curtis Centennial Editions, are objects of extraordinary beauty and rarity. They have a luminosity that is unequaled by any other photographic art form. Cardozo Fine Art is proud to present an historic limited edition printing of Contemporary Master Goldtones™ of Edward S. Curtis' most beautiful and evocative images of North American Indians. The images chosen for the Contemporary Master Goldtones™ are a selection of the most moving images that Curtis created in his 30-year study of North American Indians and each finished, framed and numbered Goldtone™ is the result of over sixty separate and distinct steps.