NEWS RELEASES
Rockefeller Estate Gifts Artworks To Mesa Verde NP
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through The National Park Service's website.
David and Peggy Rockefeller, the heirs of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., have donated over 100 works of art from the family’s collection to Mesa Verde National Park. Most of the works represent Native American Culture and were created by Native American artists, including pieces by tribal community members traditionally associated with Mesa Verde. The artworks were acquired by the Rockefellers in the 1920s and 1930s, during trips to Mesa Verde National Park and the western U.S.
Significant items in the collection include a Navajo (Diné) rug with the woven initials J.D.R.; early examples of San Ildefonso Black-on-black pottery; wood sculptures of wildlife by Blackfoot artist John Louis Clarke; paintings by Taos School artists Eanger Irving Couse and Joseph Henry Sharp; and a rare watercolor painting by Jemez Pueblo painter José Rey Toledo purchased by David Rockefeller from the Fred Harvey Store, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, in the summer 1934. Mesa Verde NPS officials plan several exhibits to highlight the objects and the Rockefeller family’s connection to the park, one of the first private/public partnerships in the NPS, which provided funds for building the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and scientific excavations at Step House.
Read more on the Mesa Verde National Park website, and at the full press release.