Fine Western Art Collections
West Lives On Gallery
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George Catlin
1796 - 1872 |
George
Catlin is best known as
a painter of the
American Indians.
Largely unappreciated
during his lifetime,
Catlin's work now stands
as an accomplished
historical record of
this nation's early
inhabitants. He
was the first American
artist of stature to
visit and depict the
Plains Indians on his
own volition. He
spent about eight years
traveling among the 48
North American Indian
tribes, documenting and
sketching
everything. His
sketches and paintings
are the first and most
important record of land
west of the Mississippi
River before white
settlement.
Catlin was born in
Wilkes Barre,
Pennsylvania in
1796. At the age
of eight, Indians had
captured his
mother. Because of
the event Catlin grew up
with family legends and
numerous visitors who
had traveled the
frontier. Educated
at home, Catlin became
intrigued with American
Indians and began to
collect
relics.
After a short career in
law, Catlin devoted him
time to easel
painting. He moved
to Philadelphia in
1823. In Philadelphia
Catlin devoted himself
to portrait
painting. He
studied and painted
along with Rembrandt
Pealse, Tom Sully and
John Neagle. His
portraits at this time
were of New York and
Washington
politicians. In
1824, Catlin witnessed a
delegation of American
Indians. Knowing
the U.S. Government was
in the process of
relocating the Indians
from their native lands
or forcing them to
acculturate, Catlin
resolved to use his are
"in rescuing
from the oblivion the
looks and customs of the
vanishing races of
native man in
America".
In 1830, Catlin
began to paint the
tribes on the lower
Missouri in St.
Louis. Over the
next six years Catlin
made a series of trips
into Indian Territory up
the Missouri and
Mississippi Rivers
resulting in over 600
paintings of the Indian
portraits, landscapes,
wildlife, ceremonies and
daily rituals.
These became known as
his "Indian
Gallery". |
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"Moose At
Waterhole"
1854 • oil on canvas
19" x 27" •
SOLD
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