Wearable Art

A piece in our November 1992 issue titled “Into the Face of History” featured a remarkable set of haunting portraits of Plains Indians assembled by Dr. James Brust, an amateur collector who had found one photograph by John H. Fouch and then had to keep going- until he uncovered a treasury of them. Until then Fouch’s work had been virtually unknown. The story caught the eye of the San Francisco Chronicle , which reprinted it, and there Laurel Patton, the owner of a T-shirt company called yours truly , saw the photos. Now Fouch’s powerful portraits have yet another life, on handsomely reproduced T-shirts. The plan is to market them in museum shops and possibly overseas. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Indian causes. You can call 1-800-584-0160 for information on price and to find out which portraits are available (they are not available through American Heritage ). As one of our colleagues said, “You’ve read the article; now wear the T-shirt.”