Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-12

breadth Of that land of enchantment-the
great southwest. There, in their primitive
and remote villages, he has resided and
worked, gaining by sympathetic understand
ing the never-ending confidence and good
will of the Indians. and SO gaining COM
mand of material for his work that could
never be acquired at a price. This access
to the intimate life of the people, COM
bined with his own skill and artistic judg-
ment has given Mr.. Monsen a collection of
pictures not only Of great artistic value.
but Of absolutely unrivaled significance as
historic and chronological records.
Native of Norway.
Frederick Monsen came to this country
from his native Norway about twenty-five
years ago, youth equipped with little
except a good education, augmented by
technical artistic training and an inheritance
of like temperament from notably artistic
family. Newspaper work carried him west
ward within a year or two, and 1t was in
Colorado that he began the work which
has since developed into a recognized art
of which he is not only the originator, but
the ablest exponent-the art of portraying
by means of the camera the beauty of
little known part of the United States and
the individuality of picturesque and fast
vanishing race. He began, photographlng
Indians while connected with the geological
survey, and the fascination Of the WORK,
together with the great possibilities of its
future value, both to art and to history,
have held him to it since.
1t is the rare artistic quality in Mr.. Mon
sens work which serves to interest layman
and connisseur alike, and it is evident
that only the sense of fellowship which Mr..
Monsen has established with the Indians
can account for the almost entire absence
in his pictures of one Objectionable feature
so marked in most Indian photographs
that of a display of self-consciousness on
the part of the subject. 1t is true, of
~ Nv 90 MIC as
are Snaps, )" but even those that are OBJ
yiously posed are still sympathetic and
characterize in striking contrast with the
deliberately picturesque" photographs so
frequently seen.
Picturesque and Primative.
While the Desert Indians. by long odds
the most picturesque and primitive of the
remaining aborigines, would be sufficient In
themselves to furnish material for life
time of endeavor. 1t is not only among the
people that Mr.. Monsen has found his work. 4
He has not neglected to any degree the
strange and beautiful physical features of
the country they live in, and these form
some of his most fascinating subjects. He
has evidently gone deeply into the chemistry
OF light and color. as well as photography.
and has used all his technical training, as
well as new methods of his own, to express
In his own chosen medium the wondrous
color. space and atmosphere Of the desert
land.
Mr.. Monsen smilingly denies the charge
that he Is man with mission" but says
he does his work because Of the pleasure
he finds In achieving the expression OF the
beautiful. Naturally, however. he has come
to take deep interest In the welfare Of the
Indians among whom he has lived SO long.
Naturally, also, he has acquired a broad
and comprehensive knowledge of conditions
among them, and also some strong ideas as
to the right care OF them. He has seen how
civilization has encroached upon them. year
by year. and has been close observer OF
Its effects.
Destruction Of Ancient Crafts.
OF all the ideas he advances as the result
of his long experience with Indian capabili-
ties and characteristics. none is more inter-
esting than the position he takes with re-
gard to the destruction OF the ancient crafts
and the attempt to replace them by modern
work that, be believes. Is prac-
tically vaiueless as well as hideous and
Mr.. Monsen holds that II the
government would send to the Indians In
structors who would exercise some intelli- J