Battle Between Sioux and Sac and Fox
1846-1848
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Accession Number
1985.66.545
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
George Catlin prized the authenticity of his depictions of Native Americans, and cited the “historical fact” that the Sioux warrior “killed and scalped on his horse’s back.” Catlin painted this work in Paris between 1846 and 1848, when he was creating dramatic, more highly finished paintings for a European clientele hungry for the romance of the American West. (Catlin, 1848 Catalogue, Catlin’s Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition)
About the Artist
George Catlin · 1796–1872
George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...