Adelaide De Menil and Bill Reid

Photographer Adelaide de Menil and artist Bill Reid explored the Northwest Coast from Vancouver Island to Southeast Alaska. In the late 1960s, they found a silent landscape of ancient villages and decaying poles. They undertook to record the art of cultures they feared were dying.

De Menil captured on film the extent and power of the old village sites. Reid expressed in words the feelings evoked by those great and ancient sculptures. Their work was published in the volume Out of the Silence (1971).

Adelaide de Menil has travelled all over the world, photographing people and their artworks. With her husband Ted Carpenter, she has gathered one of the most important private collections of Northwest Coast art in the world. In 2002, she generously gave to the Burke Museum a portion of her large archive of Northwest Coast photographs.

Bill Reid (1920-1998) was one of the most influential Haida artists. Through his jewelry and sculpture, he was part of the renewal of Northwest Coast art since the 1960s. Reid was the great-nephew of Charles Edenshaw, the renowned Haida artist of the late 1800s. Many of today's leading Haida artists apprenticed with Reid, including Robert Davidson and Jim Hart.


Online Gallery Adelaide de Menil de Menil Photo Database Exhibit Advisors Exhibit Credits Behind The Scenes	Adelaide De Menil and Bill Reid Photographer Adelaide de Menil and artist Bill Reid explored the Northwest Coast from Vancouver Island to Southeast Alaska. In the late 1960s, they found a silent landscape of ancient villages and decaying poles. They undertook to record the art of cultures they feared were dying. De Menil captured on film the extent and power of the old village sites. Reid expressed in words the feelings evoked by those great and ancient sculptures. Their work was published in the volume Out of the Silence (1971). Adelaide de Menil has travelled all over the world, photographing people and their artworks. With her husband Ted Carpenter, she has gathered one of the most important private collections of Northwest Coast art in the world. In 2002, she generously gave to the Burke Museum a portion of her large archive of Northwest Coast photographs. Bill Reid (1920-1998) was one of the most influential Haida artists. Through his jewelry and sculpture, he was part of the renewal of Northwest Coast art since the 1960s. Reid was the great-nephew of Charles Edenshaw, the renowned Haida artist of the late 1800s. Many of today's leading Haida artists apprenticed with Reid, including Robert Davidson and Jim Hart.