Churchill Art Piece Called Into Question

News4 Colorado ^ | 2/24/05 | Raj Chohan

[Fizzie]

Churchill Art Piece Called Into Question

by CBS4 News reporter Raj Chohan

Feb 24, 2005 8:03 pm US/Mountain BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) Boulder County resident Duke Prentup has been a fan of native American art for as long as he can remember. That love of art took him to the home of Ward Churchill in the early 1980's, where Prentup bought several pieces of Churchill's art, including a serigraph titled "Winter Attack."

"I have enjoyed them ever since immensely, they're obviously up inside my house," Prentup said.

Last month came a stunning revelation, though, as as Prentup flipped through a 1972 book called The Mystic Warriors of the Plains written and illustrated by the late artist Thomas E. Mails. He found a sketch that was strikingly similar to the Churchill piece.

(Excerpt) See the rest of the article, and photo comparisons of the 2 pieces of art here: http://news4colorado.com/topstories/local_story_055200531.html

[ajolympian2004]

Even the position of the feathers in the headdress and the flow of the fringe in the sash are IDENTICAL in the postcard photo and Churchill's "original by me, Ward Churchill, from my own Native American imagination" photocopy artwork.

Exactly... the feathers in the headdress was the first thing I focused on when trying determine if Churchill's drawing was copied. It's an obvious match.

[TheSarce]

Here's a clearer pic of the same Churchill "Cheyennes" painting, this one's of a postcard in a set offered by a museum. Still haven't found the original, non-Churchill source image, though.

Found it here, Turtle Island Publishing, the caption reads:

Museum Collection Notecards
Institute of American Indian Arts
These high-quality blank notecards feature artwork from five renowned American Indian artists in the IAIA Museum Collection. Their work reflects the diverse tribal sensibilities that exist among native nations. T. C. Cannon (Caddo/Kiowa), Jonathan Warm Day (Taos Pueblo), Peggie Deam (Suquamish), Ward Churchill (Keetoowah/Cherokee), and Randy Chitto (Choctaw) are featured in this first volume.
Ten notecards, 2 each of 5 images. 5 ¼ x 4 ¼ ".
Suggested retail $7.95
ISBN 1-928816-12-6

[yoe]

Hilarious!

[prairiebreeze]

Bumpity bump bump! And PING this entire thread!

[Miss Marple]

Looking at that "artwork" again, it seems to me that this is alaso a tracing off a photo. I will check to see if I can find something.

By the way, I wasn't on this thread last night but I read one post that said that these are not all produced in the same style, and that in itself indicates fakery. I agree. An artist may change his style, but not so quickly. A change in style evolves over time.

[ajolympian2004]

I just talked to a News 4 reporter here in Denver to alert them to the "Little Big Man" Churchill fraud drawing from earlier in this thread. They are now looking at that one in addition to the one they reported on last night.

[Flyer]

Still haven't found the original, non-Churchill source image, though.

It's out there, though. This one follows the same pattern: A duplicate, but a little less detail.

If Churchill did his interpretation it would be one thing, but these were done by mechanical means.

[Peach]

"It is an original art work by me, after Thomas Mails," Churchill said. "The fact that the purchaser was ignorant of the reality of what was perfectly publicly stated at the time the edition was printed is not my responsibility."

A closer examination of the Churchill piece revealed there is no credit given to the original artist. And, Churchill refused to provide us with documentation that would prove his claims.

But even if its exists, it wouldn't be enough to protect Churchill from copyright infringement unless he had permission from the copyright holder.

"Unless there was consent for Churchill to do the piece, then there is a copyright infringement here," Hubbell said.

It seem to me the school will HAVE to fire him. Hehehehe

[Chuck54]

BJung Nan this is a fantastic post. Very, very nice work.

LMAO!

[TheSarce]

Looking at that "artwork" again, it seems to me that this is alaso a tracing off a photo...

Yep. Make sure you check out the posts at #167, 168, and especially 187 and 189. Make sure you're not drinking coffee or you'll lose your keyboard! ;-)

You've got some art background, right? How do we track down the other originals? I've been searching through Google Images, but it's just hit and miss hoping some combination of keywords brings something up.

[Darksheare]

There's an old technique of copying an image using prismatic effect of light through glass.
Copies the image in reverse.
Dick Blick art supply has something like it, currently looking to see if it's still listed on their website.
(It was in the catalogue I have of theirs from a few years back!)

Friend's kids have something like it, and it uses two plastic pieces to 'mirror' the image onto your clean sheet of paper so you can trace it.

[ajolympian2004]

Well... it was fun... off to sleep after working the overnight shift. The continued investigation is in good hands.

[magslinger]

I had my wife take a look at that painting. She said most of her students could have done at least that well. My wife taught elementary students.

[reagan_fanatic]

Another mirror image...

[mollynme]

I know I've seen these pictures before. I think they were individual black and white photos that WC put together and colored for this picture.

[Spiff]

More proof that Churchill is a colossal fraud.

[Miss Marple]

I don't know. I have tried searching google under the following phrases:

Sioux
Cheyenne
Nez Perce (I happened to notice that Colorado has a Nez Perce collection in the department of ethnic studies)
Chief Joseph (because of the Nez Perce thing)
two Indians
19th century Indian photographs

So far I have found nothing.

I am going to look at the picture again to see if it gives any clues.

[ecomcon]

One of the seller's remarks:

ALL SALES FINAL, ASK QUESTIONS FIRST, THANKS

[pepperdog]

Didn't someone mention that his name is really something like Walter Churchill Ward? I'm sure I read it on one of the threads but can't find it now.

[hoosiermama]

AS in all liberals it's always the other guys fault.