New acquisition: Portrait of Tachaco by Nocona Burgess

by Alex Rankin, Senior Visitor Assistant

In January, the museum purchased a painting by Nocona Burgess, a Native American artist.

Burgess, who is a member of the Comanche Nation of Native Americans, caught the attention of museum curators after a solo show at the Rainmaker gallery in Bristol last July.

The museum already has its own collection of Native American items, mostly from the early 1900’s, including weapons, jewellery and even full-size birchbark canoe. It was decided to purchase one of Burgess’ paintings in order to bring the collection up to date and feature something that represents the activities of Native Americans in the here and now.

The picture depicts Burgess’ great-grandfather, Tachaco, wearing traditional costume, but it has been executed in a modern style. This involves building up layers of colour, or what Burgess calls ‘painting outwards,’ to produce rich tones and textures.

Burgess originally trained at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but was immersed in art from an early age. His father was an avid artist along with his grandparents and his great-grandmother, despite being blind, was a noted bead maker.

The painting was purchased with the generous help of the Friends of Bristol Art Gallery and Friends of Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives. It is currently in storage and will soon be catalogued by museum curators and added to our collections database.

It will go on display later in the year in our Curiosity gallery.