The Elkus Collection: Southwestern Indian Art

Between 1922 and 1965, Ruth C. and Charles deYoung Elkus of San Francisco assembled an important collection of nearly 1700 examples of historic and contemporary Native American art, with an emphasis on Navajo and Pueblo material. The collection includes paintings, textiles, pottery, jewelry, baskets, and katsinam carvings, and includes early works by Charles Loloma, Kenneth Begay, Maria and Julian Martinez, Fred Kabotie, Beatien Yazz, Pablita Velarde, and more than 200 other artists, representing 74 tribal groups.

The collection was bequeathed to the California Academy of Sciences in 1972. Published in 1984, this catalog lists all the southwestern pieces from the collection, excepting baskets and katsinam.

The Elkus Collection: Southwestern Indian Art was published as Special Publications of the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, 1984. 222 pages, 23 color plates, 209 black & white photographs. Soft cover. ISBN 0-295-96170-8.

The entire Elkus Collection at the California Academy of Sciences, including paintings, textiles, pottery, jewelry, baskets, and katsinam, is available to view online.

CONTENTS
Foreword
  Frank Talbot, Director, California Academy of Sciences
Acknowledgments
​Prologue
  Ben Elkus
Introduction
  Dorothy K. Washburn
Pueblo Ceramics
  Dorothy K. Washburn
Navajo and Pueblo Silverwork
  John Adair
Southwestern Weaving
  Joe Ben Wheat
Navajo, Pueblo, Apache, and Plains Paintings and Drawings
  J.J. Brody

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The Elkus Collection: Southwestern Indian Art
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Last updated 07 January 2025