George Catlin
In 1832 George Catlin traveled up the Missouri River aboard a steamer, first painting portraits of famous chiefs, and then shifting his attention to rituals, dances, every-day village activities, the hunt and the chase. Throughout the next four years, he continued to make periodic excursions into the unsettled West, producing an extraordinary documentary of his wilderness travels. By 1837 he had visited over 48 indigenous tribes and painted from life some 500 portraits and other studies depicting Indian life. Catlin assembled this large collection, together with countless costumes, artifacts and other paraphernalia, and took it first to New York where it met with much success. What came to be known as the Catlin Indian Gallery later traveled the world to such places as London in 1839, finding the favor of Queen Victoria's court, and Paris in 1844.
Go to Museum of the American West
1. Type in the name Catlin in the search box.
2. Click on one of the George Catlin and His Indian Gallery links and notice the Roman Numerals on any of the Catlin links.
You can click on these numerals to go to other pics of Catlin.
Arikara Village of Earth-Covered Lodges, 1600 Miles above St. Louis
1832, oil
On Seperate sheet of paper, write down the answers to these questions. 1. Click on the Into link. Read about Catlin and write a 2 sentence about his early life.
2. Click on each numeral starting with I . Read the caption and write the name of the painting (s) and the year that it was painted.
3. What did Catlin pursue until his death?
George Catlin The Chase
Band of Sioux Moving Camp
1837-1839, oil
George Catlin Approaching in a Ravine
