Take Two: George Catlin Revisits the West

Name: Catlin Feasted by the Mandan Chief | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Catlin Feasted by the Mandan Chief*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Mandan War Chief with His Favorite Wife | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Mandan War Chief with His Favorite Wife*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: The Cheyenne Brothers Starting on Their Fall Hunt | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *The Cheyenne Brothers Starting on Their Fall Hunt*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: The Cheyenne Brothers Returning From Their Fall Hunt | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *The Cheyenne Brothers Returning From Their Fall Hunt*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: A Cheyenne Warrior Resting His Horse | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 0 — *A Cheyenne Warrior Resting His Horse*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Four Kiowa Indians | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Four Kiowa Indians*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Camanchee Horsemanship | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Camanchee Horsemanship*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Sham Fight of the Camanchees | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Sham Fight of the Camanchees*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: The Scalper Scalped-Pawnees and Cheyennes | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *The Scalper Scalped-Pawnees and Cheyennes*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Encampment of Pawnee Indians at Sunset | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Encampment of Pawnee Indians at Sunset*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Caddoe Indians Gathering Wild Strawberries | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Caddoe Indians Gathering Wild Strawberries*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: American Pasturage-Prairies of the Platte | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *American Pasturage-Prairies of the Platte*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Buffalo Chase-Bulls Protecting the Calves | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Buffalo Chase-Bulls Protecting the Calves*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Catlin and Two Companions Shooting Buffalo | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Catlin and Two Companions Shooting Buffalo*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts-Sioux | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts-Sioux*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Nine Ojibbeway Indians in London | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on card mounted on paperboard | Year(s): 1861 - 1869 — *Nine Ojibbeway Indians in London*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Expedition Encamped on a Texas Prairie. April 1686 | Artist: George Catlin Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1847 - 1848 — *Expedition Encamped on a Texas Prairie. April 1686*
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Collection

Name: Maney Snows Have Fallen...(Letter from Ah-Wa-Cous (Charles Russell) to Short Bull) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Watercolor, pen & ink on paper | Year(s): c. 1909 - 1910 — *Maney Snows Have Fallen...(Letter from Ah-Wa-Cous (Charles Russell) to Short Bull)*

Name: Trouble on the Horizon (Prospectors discover an Indian Camp) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1893 — *Trouble on the Horizon (Prospectors discover an Indian Camp)*

Name: Plunder on the Horizon (Indians Discover Prospectors) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Gouache on paper | Year(s): 1893 — *Plunder on the Horizon (Indians Discover Prospectors)*

Name: The Marriage Ceremony (Indian Love Call) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on cardboard | Year(s): 1894 — *The Marriage Ceremony (Indian Love Call)*

Name: When Cowboys Get in Trouble (The Mad Cow) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1899 — *When Cowboys Get in Trouble (The Mad Cow)*

Name: Returning to Camp | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1901 — *Returning to Camp*

Name: Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Meeting with the Indians of the Northwest | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1897 — *Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Meeting with the Indians of the Northwest*

Name: When Blackfeet and Sioux Meet | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1908 — *When Blackfeet and Sioux Meet*

Name: The Buffalo Hunt (Wild Meat for Wild Men) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1899 — *The Buffalo Hunt (Wild Meat for Wild Men)*

Name: Man's Weapons Are Useless When Nature Goes Armed (Weapons of the Weak; Two of a Kind Win) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1916 — *Man's Weapons Are Useless When Nature Goes Armed (Weapons of the Weak; Two of a Kind Win)*

Name: Utica (A Quiet day in Utica) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1907 — *Utica (A Quiet day in Utica)*

Name: Counting Coup (Medicine Whip) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1902 — *Counting Coup (Medicine Whip)*

Name: Buffalo Bill's Duel With Yellowhand | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1917 — *Buffalo Bill's Duel With Yellowhand*

Name: Wounded (The Wounded Buffalo) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1909 — *Wounded (The Wounded Buffalo)*

Name: When White Men Turn Red | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): c. 1922 — *When White Men Turn Red*

Name: Buffalo Hunt (bronze) | Artist: Charles M. Russell Media: Bronze | Year(s): ca. 1928 — *Buffalo Hunt (bronze)*
- Private Collection

Name: Indian Encampment | Artist: Peter Moran Media: Oil on panel | Year(s): c. 1880 - 1881 — *Indian Encampment*

Name: The Forty-niners | Artist: Oscar E. Berninghaus Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): Before 1942 — *The Forty-niners*

Name: Rounded-Up | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1901 — *Rounded-Up*

Name: The Apaches! | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1904 — *The Apaches!*

Name: Among The Led Horses | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1909 — *Among The Led Horses*

Name: The Unknown Explorers | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1908 — *The Unknown Explorers*

Name: The Cow Puncher | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil (black & white) on canvas | Year(s): 1901 — *The Cow Puncher*

Name: Buffalo Runners-Big Horn Basin | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1909 — *Buffalo Runners-Big Horn Basin*

Name: The Thunder-Fighters Would take Their Bows and Arrows, Their Guns, Their Magic Drum | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on wood panel | Year(s): 1892 — *The Thunder-Fighters Would take Their Bows and Arrows, Their Guns, Their Magic Drum*

Name: The Puncher | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1895 — *The Puncher*

Name: The Sentinel | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1889 — *The Sentinel*

Name: Self-Portrait On A Horse | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): ca. 1890 — *Self-Portrait On A Horse*

Name: Apache Medicine Song | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1908 — *Apache Medicine Song*

Name: The Luckless Hunter | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1909 — *The Luckless Hunter*

Name: A Taint On the Wind | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1906 — *A Taint On the Wind*

Name: The Love Call | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1909 — *The Love Call*

Name: A Figure of the Night (The Sentinel) | Artist: Frederic Remington Media: Oil on canvas | Year(s): 1908 — *A Figure of the Night (The Sentinel)*

Name: Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio. Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America. From Drawings and Notes of the Author, Made During Eight Years' Travel Amongst Forty-Eight of the Wildest and Most Remote Tribes of Savages in North America. | Artist: George Catlin Media: Book | Year(s): ca. 1844 — Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio. Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America. From Drawings and Notes of the Author, Made During Eight Years' Travel Amongst Forty-Eight of the Wildest and Most Remote Tribes of Savages in North America.
- Private Collection

Name: Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians...Written During Eight Years' Travel [1832-1839] Amongst the Wildest Tribes of Indians in North America...With...Illustrations, Carefully Engraved from His Original Paintings. | Artist: George Catlin Media: Book | Year(s): 1841 — Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians...Written During Eight Years' Travel [1832-1839] Amongst the Wildest Tribes of Indians in North America...With...Illustrations, Carefully Engraved from His Original Paintings.
- Private Collection

Name: Illustrations of the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians with letters and notes written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existing... | Artist: George Catlin Media: Book | Year(s): 1866 — Illustrations of the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians with letters and notes written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existing...
- Private Collection

George Catlin (1796-1872)

This special exhibition features works by George Catlin (an artist not represented in the collection, see bio below) and works by Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell and other important artists that are represented in the Sid Richardson Museum collection.

George Catlin Portrait by William Fisk — William Fisk | *George Catlin Portrait*

“…nothing short of the loss of my life shall prevent me from visiting their [the Indians’] country, and becoming their historian…”

George Catlin was born July 26, 1796 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. His interest in Native Americans may have begun at an early age with tales of his mother’s capture (and safe return) when she was seven by Iroquois Indians and his family’s friendly contact with an Oneida family. Many details about him remain a mystery, but he was determined to paint and document as many American Indians as possible, afraid westward expansion would destroy them and their ways of life. Catlin started his professional life as a lawyer, studying in Litchfield, Connecticut, being admitted to the Bar in 1818 and working with his brother Charles. George began trying his hand at being a miniature painter and portraitist soon after. In 1820 he moved to Philadelphia, living and working as an artist becoming close friends with portraitist Thomas Sully’s future son-in-law, John Neagle. Catlin began exhibiting artwork at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts being elected an academician in 1824. In 1826 Catlin moved to New York and became a member of the National Academy of Design. During this time he painted his first Indian portrait, the Seneca Chief, Red Jacket.

George married Clara Bartlett Gregory in Albany, New York in 1828, with George continuing to work as a portraitist on the East Coast. Wanting to travel west George went to St. Louis in 1830 to meet with Gen. William Clark, commissioner of the new Missouri Territory, hoping to travel with Clark and other military expeditions. In 1832 George began what was to become his most famous era of travel, first traveling up the Missouri River to Fort Union. During this trip Catlin painted a number of Indian tribes, including Sioux, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, and Mandan. George exhibited his growing collection in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, and New Orleans. Catlin continued to travel including with an 1834 expedition led by General Leavenworth and Colonel Dodge to Fort Gibson, near Pawnee and Comanche territories in today’s southern Oklahoma. George and Clara traveled up the Mississippi River to Fort Snelling where he was able to paint Sioux, Chippewa, Saux, and Fox. Catlin opened his Indian Gallery in New York City in 1837 with shows in D.C., Baltimore, Boston, and Philadelphia. During this time George tried unsuccessfully many times to have the U.S. Government buy his collection.

George Catlin | Catlin Feasted by the Mandan Chief — George Catlin | *Catlin Feasted by the Mandan Chief*

With declining interest in his exhibit and the failure to have his collection bought by Congress, George set off for England in 1839. The Indian Gallery opened at the Egyptian Hall in London in 1840. With great personal expense, George self-published Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians in 1841. Catlin exhibited his collection in England and elsewhere in Europe, eventually storing the paintings and traveling with performers while he told of his encounters in the American West with artifacts and props. In 1843, he hired nine Ojibwa Indians to travel with the show throughout the U.K. He then hired and toured with 14 Iowa Indians. In 1845, Catlin moved his family and the Iowa to Paris. He toured with the Iowa in Europe while also enjoying the patronage of the French King, Louis-Phillippe. During this period Catlin also painted a series of works depicting the LaSalle Expedition. Unfortunately, the French monarchy fell and George fled to England with his children. Having incurred massive debts throughout his life and now in England, he was forced to put his Indian Gallery up for auction. Railroad tycoon Joseph Harrison agreed to buy the collection in its entirety in exchange for paying off most of Catlin’s debt. Catlin spent much of the rest of his life trying to replicate his Gallery from notes, sketches, and memory making up his Cartoon Collection, which was exhibited at the Smithsonian (1872) after returning to America in 1870, having spent 31 years abroad. Catlin died in New Jersey surrounded by remaining family December 23, 1872.