About the Gallery
Donald Ellis Gallery is widely considered the internationally pre-eminent dealer in the field of historical Native American art. Founded in 1976, the gallery maintains a particular emphasis on the art of the Northwest Coast, Inuit and Plains cultures. The gallery’s inventory includes important historical works of art by Indigenous artists from most of North America, including the Yup’ik, Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian and Navajo, as well as a small but significant collection of prehistoric ivories and contemporary Inuit art. The gallery regularly exhibits at major international art fairs, including Frieze Masters, London; the Armory Show, New York; Frieze, New York; TEFAF, Maastricht and TEFAF, New York.
A recognized authority in the field, Donald Ellis has been pivotal in raising international awareness of the fundamental contributions of Indigenous North American cultures to the history of art. In 2018, the gallery co-presented Moon Dancers: Yup'ik Masks and the Surrealists, showcasing the formative role Yup’ik dance masks played to the stylistic innovation and worldview of the Surrealists. The gallery has also been instrumental in shaping institutional and private interest in Plains Indian Ledger Art, bringing these unique artistic records of North American history to public attention for the first time since the groundbreaking exhibition Plains Indian Ledger Drawings at the Drawing Center, New York, in 1996. Donald Ellis has been a regularly featured appraiser of Native American art on the PBS Antiques Roadshow and has also appeared on the BBC and CBC Antiques Roadshows.
Gallery Clients
The gallery counts numerous prominent public institutions among its clients. These include:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
- The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
- Musee de Quai Branly, Paris, France
- Louvre, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, QC
- Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON
- Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
- The Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- H.M. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA
- The Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ
- Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
- Royal British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria, BC
- Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, ON
- U’mista Cultural Centre, Alert Bay, BC
- Museum of Northern British Columbia, Prince Rupert, BC
- Staatlichen Museums fur Volkerkunde, Munich, Germany
- Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX
- The Cleveland Museum of Fine Art, Cleveland, OH
- Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VI
- Maine State Museum, Augusta, ME
- Ah Tha Thi Ki Museum, Clewiston, FLA
- Kendall Whaling Museum, Sharon, MA
- Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, Mashantucket, CT
- The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany, CT
- Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, AK
- New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, NY
- Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka, Alaska
- Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama
- Toledo Art Museum, Toledo, OH
- Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME
- Museum of FIne Arts, Houston, TX
- Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute, Oujé-Bougoumou, QC, Canada
Donald Ellis Gallery is committed to broadening the social accessibility of the collection through publishing and co-curated special exhibitions in the public sector. In addition, Donald Ellis Gallery supports the Plains Indian Ledger Art Digital Publishing Project (PILA), creating a comprehensive digital archive of complete ledger books as well as individual drawings in the collections of Donald Ellis Gallery for public access and research.
Please visit PRESS for more information about the gallery.
