Ledger Drawing Named One of the 10 Art Achievements of 2017

In his review of the year in culture published in the Vulture section of New York Magazine, the critic Jerry Saltz names a Ledger Drawing by Koba (Wild Horse, 1848-1880) one of the 10 best art achievements of 2017. Discovering the work on exhibit at Donald Ellis Gallery during Frieze New York, Koba’s drawing of a steam train meandering through a prismatic landscape stopped Saltz in his tracks: ‘The fair vanished as I beheld this 1875 picture never seen in any museum and all but lost to history.’

The work, which had previously been attributed to Bear’s Heart, was created by one of seventy-two Native American warriors imprisoned at Fort Marion, in St. Augustine, Florida. Found guilty without a trial following the Red River War of 1874-75, the picture captures the locomotive with which the prisoners were transported to their three-year-long imprisonment. The simple depiction in lustrous colour ‘somehow expressed a thousand anxieties, lost freedom, emotions secreted away, omens of anger, empty worlds, tears, and the life of a captive,’ Saltz writes. 

Despite its artistic and historic significance, Ledger Art remains largely underrepresented in the permanent collections of North American museums. ‘I think it could go up against anything made anywhere in 1875,’ Saltz concludes. 'And should. Soon. It’s time to integrate works like this into art museums.’