Bodmer_Publication

TAB. 22 «FAC-SIMILE einer indianischen Malerei»
“FAC-SIMILE OF AN INDIAN PAINTING”
predominantly male encounters. This also explains why the artifacts and weapons
that Wied collected and Bodmer painted are almost exclusively from the sphere
of men. (This in spite of the fact that a large part of them was made by women.)
At the same time, the illustrations evidence two tendencies of aestheticization.
For one, the societies of the Plains were hallmarked by a strong desire among
the men to display their status, and, consequently, the objects were beautifully
crafted according to indigenous, cultural aesthetic criteria. But next to that, and
now turning to the illustrations themselves, the images did not only have to serve
a general interest in the documentation of foreign cultures, they also had to cater
for a second interest among Western viewers. This was the wish to be exposed to,
and experience, that which made these foreign people interesting to, and valuable
for, one’s own culture. In this sense, and in our own appreciation, many of the
objects are of high aesthetic value. That Bodmer, at least, felt this way is clearly
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