Wright's Indian Art > About Us

Over 100 years ago, young Charles Wright of Kansas hitched up his team and rode off toward the Western sunset to seek his fortune. He set up the Indian Shop at Fred Harvey's hotels in Albuquerque and at the Grand Canyon, opened his own trading post on the Navajo reservation, and finally moved his family back to the city, opening El Curio, Wright's Indian Trading Post, in downtown Albuquerque, in 1907. Kathryn Wright ran the business from her husband's death in 1937 to the early 1950's, when she sold it to the current family.

A study in diversity themselves, the late Sam & Marguerite Chernoff ( a Russian immigrant to Chihuahua, Mexico, and the daughter of the French consul there ) had just arrived in America with their 4 children, knowing nothing of Indian art except that they loved it. They looked, listened, learned, and gradually developed their own inventory, establishing solid friendships with artists such as Maria Martinez and Pablita Velarde.

Their son-in-law, Wayne Bobrick, the present director, has zealously maintained the Chernoffs' passion and stringently high standards. "We buy as if we were keeping each piece ourselves. Our customers trust us to be as careful and choosy as they are," he says. Five decades of loyal clients have relied on Wright's for uncompromising authenticity, quality, creativity, and truly personal service.