STEVEN MICHAAN. Art of the Spirit World: Woodlands, Arctic, and Northwest Coast. TRIBAL people. Interview by Jonathan Fogel

Transcription

1 TRIBAL people STEVEN MICHAAN Art of the Spirit World: Woodlands, Arctic, and Northwest Coast Interview by Jonathan Fogel FIGS. 4a & b (left and below): Sea otter bowl. Quatsino Band, Gwatsinuxw, Kwakwaka wakw, Vancouver Island, British Columbia Wood, beads. L: 26.7 cm. 120

2 FIGS. 1 and 2 (left): Part of the Steven Michaan Collection in his home. Photo courtesy of Steven Michaan. FIG. 3 (below): Steven Michaan Atlantic salmon fishing on the Cascapedia River in Quebec. Photo courtesy of Steven Michaan. Last December, I received an from an unfamiliar woman about reviewing a book that had been produced on a private collection of Native American art, a copy of which was in the mail to me. I ll keep my eye out for it, I said. You can t miss it, she said. Truer words have never been spoken. In due course, a hefty package arrived and from it emerged a three-volume slip-cased edition weighing nearly twelve pounds. What was in its pages was even more impressive. I ve been editing this magazine for almost twenty-five years and I know most of the players in this field, at least by reputation, but how could I possibly not have heard of this Steven Michaan, who had built such an extraordinary collection of art from the Arctic, Northwest Coast, and Woodlands? I knew many of the pieces, but not the collector. This had to change. Some months later I took a train north from New York City and was met by my correspondent, Steve s assistant, Susan, who drove me to a small but exquisite home set in rolling forestland. I met Steve, who is unassuming but passionate about art and has been actively collecting at a very high level while maintaining a very low profile. I was treated to the opportunity to spend some time with him and his truly remarkable collection and, over lunch in a nearby early nineteenth-century inn, we chatted about his interests. FIG. 5 (right): Shaman s atlatl. Tlingit, Alaska Wood, shell, trade beads. L: 39.4 cm. Tribal Art Magazine: You ve been an avid collector in many fields over the years. Tell us a little about that. Steven Michaan: I have collected all my life. In my youth I began collecting stamps, coins, and swords. As a university student at U.C. Berkeley I began assembling a collection of Edward S. Curtis prints, many of which hang in my house to this day. I also collected M. C. Escher prints that I bought from the artist himself. I spent the next decade focusing on decorative arts and specializing in Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows. Being an avid fisherman and a collector, I was led to collecting antique fish decoys. I assembled an important collection of American ice fishing decoys. It became the basis of major exhibitions, most notably, Beneath the Ice: The Art of the Fish Decoy, which premiered at the 121

3 TRIBAL PEOPLE Jackson Pollock et le Chamanisme held at the Pinacothèque de Paris in This was a groundbreaking show that linked Pollock s early abstract expressionistic works directly to Northwest Coast shamanic art. Twenty-five pieces from my collection were represented in this exhibit and were noted in reviews as being the highlight of the show. T.A.M.: You ve focused almost entirely on Northwest Coast, Arctic, and Woodlands art. Why those regions as opposed to the other cultures of North America? S.M.: I couldn t collect everything, so I pursued what was most appealing to me. I m drawn to the artistry, form, spirituality, and utilitarian FIG. 6 (left): Humanoid bear war helmet. Tlingit, Alaska Wood, paint. W: 31 cm. FIGS. 7a & b (below): Speaker s staff. Eastern Great Lakes. C Maple, snakeskin, lead, textile. L: 76.2 cm. Ex Alan J. Sainsbury Collection. Museum of American Folk Art in New York City in and toured internationally for more than two years. T.A.M.: You came into Native American art through a somewhat circuitous route. How did that come about? S.M.: During one of the fishing trade shows I attended in the late 1980s in Massachusetts I came across a halibut hook. I was so intrigued by the piece (which I still own) that I started looking at other objects and soon was collecting other Northwest Coast and Arctic fishing implements, and thus my new journey began. I have always had an affinity for Indian objects, so this was a natural progression for me as a collector. In a short time I moved from fishing implements to specializing in shamanic objects. While their primary function was utilitarian, I appreciated the craftsmanship, the artistry, and the spirit embedded in each piece created by masters of their trade and service. I also collect up. Meaning, I always intend for my next purchase or trade to involve getting a better, finer piece. Establishing my collection has been a process and not one that has come easily. The point at which I knew I had achieved an exceptional collection was upon receiving international recognition and praise when it became the basis for the exhibition FIG. 8 (above right): Shaman s mask. Tlingit, Alaska Alder, abalone shell, pigment. H: 22.9 cm. Ex Lt. George T. Emmons, Heye Foundation, the Andy Warhol Collection. FIG. 9 (above far right): Forehead mask/headpiece. Nishga, British Columbia. C Wood, pigment, abalone shell, copper. W: 13.3 cm. Ex Lt. George T. Emmons, collected on the Ness River, British Columbia; Heye Foundation; Museum of the American Indian. FIG. 10 (right): Human face mask. Inupiat, Alaska Wood, human teeth. H: 21.6 cm. 122

4 function as they manifest in each piece. In my mind, these are some of the Native American areas that have the most evolved and prolific sculptural traditions, perhaps in part because they re relatively settled peoples, as opposed to the more nomadic cultures elsewhere in North America. I found early on that I was more drawn to the sculpted pieces made of wood, ivory, antler, and bone, and I was less interested in beadwork or clothing or rugs. T.A.M.: Are there any individuals who have been especially influential in the formation of this collection? S.M.: Yes, in short, all the dealers, collectors, and museums who have helped to educate me in the process. But more specifically, George Terasaki, who has since passed, was a dealer in the field with the most exquisite pieces and one of the people who educated me the most and sold me some of my finest pieces. Others, like Brant Mackley, Steve Powers, and Peter Brams, were influential in directing me in the Woodlands field. Andre Nasser s remarkable collection was my inspiration for Northwest Coast and Arctic. As a child I frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of the American Indian, the latter when it was uptown near Columbia University in New York City, and these both provided an 123

5 TRIBAL PEOPLE FIG. 11 (above): Soul catcher. Tlingit, Alaska. C Bear femur, abalone shell, hide cordage. L: 16.8 cm. FIGS. 12a & b (right and above right): Chief s club. Tsimshian, Alaska or British Columbia Caribou antler. L: 52.1 cm. Ex Dr. Lucius Duncan Bulkley. FIG. 15 (below): Otter amulet. Inuit, Alaska Ivory, pigment. H: 8.9 cm. FIG. 13 (left): Doll head. Punuk or Thule, Alaska. AD Walrus ivory. H: 5.1 cm. FIG. 14 (left): Doll head. Punuk or Thule, Alaska. AD Walrus ivory. H: 6.4 cm. FIG. 16 (facing page): Dorsal fin headdress finial. Tlingit, Alaska Wood, pigment, abalone shell, human hair. H: 26.7 cm. 124

6 STEVEN MICHAAN early appreciation of Native North American art and culture. As a far as auction houses, I ve mainly dealt with Christie s and Sotheby s, but one of my most memorable collecting moments and not coincidentally one of the most important pieces in my collection involved a Tlingit war helmet, which came up in 2008 at Fairfield Auction, a small auction company located in Monroe, Connecticut. At the time my resources were limited, but when the war helmet came to auction after first being listed on ebay, I knew I had to have it, whatever the cost. Somehow I would figure out how to pay for it and I did. It was hotly contested at auction in fact, it set the record for a work of Native American art at auction at the time but mine ultimately was the successful bid, and to this day this war helmet may be my greatest triumph as a collector. War helmets of this kind are very rare and predate European contact with the peoples of the Northwest Coast. Only about ninety are known to exist, with the majority in museums and only a handful in private collections. This example dates back to the mid eighteenth century and was likely used in a well-known conflict that took place around 1804 that is now referred to as the Battle of Sitka, in which the Tlingit peoples resisted a Russian colonial assault (see Tribal Art magazine, spring 2006, p. 184). While the war helmet may not be the most sculpturally refined of all my pieces as compared to other objects in my collection like the Tsimshian chief s club, the Tlingit atlatl, or the Quatsino otter bowl its significance to me lies in its great rarity and important place in Tlingit history. T.A.M.: You produced a lavish three-volume book that documents most of the collection. That must have been a remarkably timeconsuming and expensive project. Why did you create it? S.M.: I had previously self-published a book featuring my fish decoy collection, which is titled American Fish Decoy and was released in 2005, so I had some experience doing this. With my tribal arts collection nearly completed, I wanted to do the same for it. It was an opportunity to share these pieces with the community of collectors, and I wanted to have 125

7 TRIBAL PEOPLE FIG. 18 (below): Human effigy bowl. Southern New England. C or earlier. Ash burl. W: 36.8 cm. FIG. 17: Human effigy pipe. Great Lakes. C Maple burl, lead. L: 11.4 cm. an archive, a catalog, of my collection. I wanted to present it in the best way possible. It was a labor of love and it was well worth the effort. Over a period of three years, my assistant, Susan Fierro, and I coordinated with photographers Chuck Dorris and Steve Tucker to document much of the collection, and we worked with well-known specialists, including Steve Brown, Peter Furst, Sean Mooney, and Steve Powers, to produce introductory essays and descriptions of the pieces. In the end, we averaged one year apiece to produce a book for each subcollection: Northwest Coast, Arctic, and Woodlands. Three years, three volumes, which together comprise Art of the Spirit World. As with my other book, I took this one to Graphicom in Verona, Italy, which has a well-earned reputation for printing some of the finest books of their kind. As with my fish decoy book, we used a special technique where a layer of gloss was overlaid onto each image, allowing for added dimensionality. With each image resting or, rather, hovering against the black background, the sculptural quality of each piece comes to life. The catalog and indeed the documentation of the collection is available at T.A.M.: While Native American material still interests you, you mentioned that your focus has shifted to Hudson River School paintings. What do you see as the future for your material? S.M.: As I approach seventy years old, I m slowing down my collecting. I would like to keep the collection intact, and it is my hope that it can eventually find a home in a museum. Even though I m not actively collecting this material at this point doesn t mean I m not still fascinated by it. I still look at hundreds of images every day, both in the fields I m currently involved in collecting as well as ones that I ve collected in the past. I like to follow the market, notice trends, do my homework. A collector is always on the hunt, and I m always looking. T.A.M.: You built a remarkable collection in a relatively short period of time. Do you have any advice for collectors who are just setting out on their journey? S.M.: I am a collector. It may be seen as a passion or, as my wife might say, an obsession. I love to do it. I love the hunt. I have been fortunate to have had opportunities to acquire objects considered the best in the field. I have also made some choices that if I had the chance, I would do differently. There is always a learning curve, as in any field. I believe in the law of averages and, in the end, if I invest my time and do my due diligence, I will end up ahead. I see my tribal art collection as the pinnacle of my collecting career. It is one of the collections I am most proud of, and it is one of the most exceptional in its field. If you are buying just to put things on your wall for decorative purposes, I see that as different from collecting. I see collecting as an art, a skill, a technique. It has to be developed and refined as with a sport or any art form. The more time, the more training, the more situations, the better one becomes. The learning curve can be shortened by utilizing the time and experience of others. Know what you are dealing with and whom you are dealing with. Find out who the players are. 126

8 FIG. 19 (left): Killer whale dagger, attributed to Saaeina.aat. Tlingit, Alaska Steel, leather, textile. L: 54 cm. FIG. 20 (right): Shaman s deer hoof rattle. Tlingit, Alaska Wood, Sitka black-tail deer hooves and dew claws, fiber, pigment. H: 30.8 cm. 127