Tag Archives: Minnesota State Capitol

November 10, 2015 · 9:46 pm

Minnesota’s awful art problem

Father Hennepin at the Falls of St. Anthony - described by Scott Russell in The Circle: "The painting shows Father Hennepin at the falls, renaming it after his patron saint. The term “discovers” is wrong. Hennepin stands in a position of authority, towering over the people sitting below him, when in fact he was a Dakota prisoner at the time. At right, the painting shows a half-naked Dakota woman carrying a heavy pack. Her lack of covering is historically inaccurate and offensive, an apparent effort to show her as uncivilized."

Father Hennepin at the Falls of St. Anthony – described by Scott Russell in The Circle: “The painting shows Father Hennepin at the falls, renaming it after his patron saint. The term “discovers” is wrong. Hennepin stands in a position of authority, towering over the people sitting below him, when in fact he was a Dakota prisoner at the time. At right, the painting shows a half-naked Dakota woman carrying a heavy pack. Her lack of covering is historically inaccurate and offensive, an apparent effort to show her as uncivilized.”

The Minnesota Capitol features some truly awful art. Whatever the judgment from an aesthetic perspective, several paintings inside the building are awful because they are offensive, racist, and historically inaccurate. They show heroic white “discoverers,” backed by priests and angels, bringing Christianity and “civilization” to Indians in Minnesota. Continue reading →

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