The Met shines a light on the French artist’s travels among the Indigenous communities of California in the 1870s
In the 1870s the French artist Jules Tavernier travelled to California, where he painted an expansive canvas depicting a ceremonial dance of the Indigenous Pomo community of Elem. Recently rediscovered, Dance in a Subterranean Roundhouse at Clear Lake, California (1878) forms the centrepiece of this display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (16 August–28 November). It is shown alongside other works by Tavernier, narrating the history of his travels through the US, as well as a group of Pomo baskets and regalia dating from the 19th century to the present day. Find out more from the Met’s website.