Arader Galleries donates historic art to the St. Helena Historical Society | Lifestyles

The print is a sepia-toned Edward Curtis photogravure of a Native American woman from the Pomo tribe titled “The Burden-Basket-Coast Pomo”. In 1900 Curtis began photographing and recording information about every tribe in the American West. He recognized that the traditional Native American way of life – its customs and rituals – was fading away. He knew the information had to be recorded or the opportunity would be lost.

With financial support from JP Morgan, Curtis took more than 40,000 images and collected rare ethnographic information on more than 80 tribal groups over a period of more than a decade.

“As a student of California history, I was very excited to see this beautiful portrait of the Pomo woman with her basket,” said Mariam Hansen, director of research at SHHS. “It will be displayed prominently in our heritage center.”

Arader Galleries, 1380 Main St., specializes in historic photographs, maps, rare books and art, including the work of naturalist and artist John James Audubon. Josephine Arader worked at the New York Gallery in online sales for more than 13 years before moving to Napa Valley and opening St. Helena Gallery in October.

Of his donation, Arader said, “I encourage everyone to visit the Heritage Center to see this photograph. It captures the strength and spirit of the Native Americans who lived here in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys for 10,000 years. It was my own love of history that inspired me to donate Curtis’ photography – I want more people to see and appreciate what went into this work.

The Heritage Center is located at 1255 Oak Avenue in the former St. Helena Catholic School.