“Please direct me to whatever I won’t find in European museums” was my request to the lady at the welcome desk at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
The entry ticket to the Met gives you access over 3 days but I only had a morning available so was keen to absorb as much as I could in such a short period of time. She must be used to this type of question as very helpfully directed me to several areas on the map including the Native American collection where I found these evocative drawings from the 1860’s called “Ledger Art” made by artists on paper, very often from ledger books acquired through battle or trade.
This large painting isn’t strictly ledger art – it’s way too big & on muslin. A record of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, it was painted 40 years after the event by one of the participants, Steven Standing Bear, who was only 16 years old at the time of the battle.
