Ralph T. Coe
Encyclopedia
Ralph Tracy "Ted" Coe was a notable art collector and scholar, best known for developing modern appreciation of Native American
art. "He was kind of the beginning player, enormously significant in the growth of appreciation of Native American art in the 20th century", noted a curator from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
.
, where his parents and sister were also involved in the art world, with his father an art collector specializing in Impressionist art
as a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art
. He earned a bachelor's degree at Oberlin College
, and a master's at Yale University
, both in art history
. At Yale he worked for John Pope Hennessy
as a research assistant. He worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London and then at the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, D.C.
. He was hired by what was then the Nelson Gallery of Art
as curator of painting and sculpture in 1959.
His lifelong interest in Native American art was sparked serendipitously in 1955, when he happened upon a Northwest coast
totem pole
standing in a shop on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan
. This chance encounter led to an interest in collecting Native American art, over the years amassing a collection of more than 1,000 pieces that dated from prehistoric times to the 20th century. Included in Coe's collection were kachina dolls, war bonnets, ceramic pieces and beaded garments. The material he found was located by crisscrossing the country to visit Indian reservation
s across the United States, where he acquired pieces and learned about the history and significance of the articles he collected. In 1976, an exhibition based on his work titled Sacred Circles: 2,000 Years of North American Indian Art opened at the Hayward Gallery
in London
. The exhibit was relocated to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
in Kansas City, Missouri
, in 1977, where Coe served as the museum's director until 1982. After leaving his position as museum director, Coe said he felt liberated, exchanging "a pinstripe suit for a pair of jeans" and having "the Indian world became the real world" to him, "a beguiling world of color and visual excitement, of pungent and humorous people". A 1986 exhibition that debuted at the American Museum of Natural History
was titled Lost and Found Traditions: Native American Art, 1965-1985, focusing on works of contemporary artists, which Coe developed as part of what The New York Times
called "his determination to show that Indian art is a living tradition". An exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
that included some 200 items from his collection opened in 2003, titled The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art. Coe donated significant portions of his collection to the Met in 2003.
Coe also influenced the work of other collectors, including Marion and Henry W. Bloch
's well-regarded collection of Impressionist works and Eugene V. Thaw. Bloch said that he "would never have had a collection if not for Ted," and credited Coe with having guided the selection of virtually every piece in their collection.
Coe died at age 81 on September 14, 2010, at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico
.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
art. "He was kind of the beginning player, enormously significant in the growth of appreciation of Native American art in the 20th century", noted a curator from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
.
Biography
Coe grew up in Cleveland, OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, where his parents and sister were also involved in the art world, with his father an art collector specializing in Impressionist art
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
as a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
. He earned a bachelor's degree at Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, and a master's at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, both in art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
. At Yale he worked for John Pope Hennessy
John Pope Hennessy
Sir John Pope Hennessy, KCMG , was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator who served as the eighth Governor of Hong Kong.-Early life:...
as a research assistant. He worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
in London and then at the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. He was hired by what was then the Nelson Gallery of Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art....
as curator of painting and sculpture in 1959.
His lifelong interest in Native American art was sparked serendipitously in 1955, when he happened upon a Northwest coast
Northwest Coast art
Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America, from pre-European-contact times up to the...
totem pole
Totem pole
Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved from large trees, mostly Western Red Cedar, by cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America...
standing in a shop on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. This chance encounter led to an interest in collecting Native American art, over the years amassing a collection of more than 1,000 pieces that dated from prehistoric times to the 20th century. Included in Coe's collection were kachina dolls, war bonnets, ceramic pieces and beaded garments. The material he found was located by crisscrossing the country to visit Indian reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
s across the United States, where he acquired pieces and learned about the history and significance of the articles he collected. In 1976, an exhibition based on his work titled Sacred Circles: 2,000 Years of North American Indian Art opened at the Hayward Gallery
Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The exhibit was relocated to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art....
in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, in 1977, where Coe served as the museum's director until 1982. After leaving his position as museum director, Coe said he felt liberated, exchanging "a pinstripe suit for a pair of jeans" and having "the Indian world became the real world" to him, "a beguiling world of color and visual excitement, of pungent and humorous people". A 1986 exhibition that debuted at the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
was titled Lost and Found Traditions: Native American Art, 1965-1985, focusing on works of contemporary artists, which Coe developed as part of what The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called "his determination to show that Indian art is a living tradition". An exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
that included some 200 items from his collection opened in 2003, titled The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art. Coe donated significant portions of his collection to the Met in 2003.
Coe also influenced the work of other collectors, including Marion and Henry W. Bloch
Henry W. Bloch
Henry Wollman Bloch is the co-founder and the chairman emeritus of H&R Block.Henry and his brother, Richard Bloch, founded H&R Block in 1955 in Kansas City, Missouri.-Personal life:Bloch was born in Kansas City...
's well-regarded collection of Impressionist works and Eugene V. Thaw. Bloch said that he "would never have had a collection if not for Ted," and credited Coe with having guided the selection of virtually every piece in their collection.
Coe died at age 81 on September 14, 2010, at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
.
Significant exhibitions curated
- Sacred Circles: 2,000 Years of North American Indian Art (opened at Hayward GalleryHayward GalleryThe Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre, part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames, in central London, England. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings and also the Royal National Theatre and British Film Institute...
, London, 1976) ISBN 0295955848 - Lost and Found Traditions: Native American Art, 1965-1985 (opened at American Museum of Natural HistoryAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryThe American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, 1986) ISBN 0295966998. Contemporary Native American artists. - The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art (opened at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, 2003) ISBN 0300101872.
Further reading
- Biography, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art